National Book Awards go to Phil Klay's 'Redeployment,' Evan Osnos's 'Age of Ambition'

The National Book Award winners for this year include Phil Klay, whose short story collection “Redeployment” took the fiction prize, and New Yorker writer Evan Osnos, who won the nonfiction award for his book “Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China.”

Jacqueline Woodson took the young people’s literature award for her work “Brown Girl Dreaming” and Louise Glück won the poetry prize for her book “Faithful and Virtuous Night.”

In his acceptance speech, Osnos expressed gratitude to those who spoke with him for the book.

“They live in a place where it’s very dangerous to be honest and be vulnerable,” he said, according to The New York Times.

In his review of “Ambition,” Monitor critic Mike Revzin wrote, “The stories of China’s strivers are remarkable.” (Check out the Monitor's full review here.) 

Meanwhile, Klay, who made his debut with "Redeployment," spoke of his own time as a Marine in his acceptance speech. 

“War’s too strange to be processed alone,” he said, according to the Guardian. “I came back not knowing what to think about so many things. The book was the only way I knew how to really start thinking [it] through.” 

Amazon had picked Klay's work as one of the best books of March when it was released and Amazon editorial director Sara Nelson called the book "un-put-downable and ... so honest."

Meanwhile, Monitor critic Augusta Scattergood called Woodson’s work “Girl” “history and storytelling at their very best.” (See the full review here.) 

The NBAs were held in New York City and hosted by author Daniel Handler, who also writes under the pen name Lemony Snicket.