The Great Believers
AuthorRebecca Makkai
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical fiction
PublisherPenguin Books
Publication date
June 4, 2018
Awards
ISBN9780735223530

The Great Believers is a historical fiction novel by Rebecca Makkai, published June 4, 2018 by Penguin Books.

The book is a Carnegie Medal winner,[1][2] National Book Award finalist,[3] Stonewall Book Award winner,[3] and Pulitzer Prize finalist.[3][4]

Reception

The Great Believers received starred reviews from Kirkus,[3] Booklist,[5] Publishers Weekly,[6] and Shelf Awareness,[7] as well as a positive review from Library Journal,[8] The New York Times Book Review,[9] The Guardian,[10] Los Angeles Review of Books,[11] Entertainment Weekly,[12] The Star Tribune,[13] The Kenyon Review,[14] NPR,[15] The San Francisco Chronicle,[16] The Boston Globe,[17] and Lambda Literary,[18] among others.

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Dan López called The Great Believers "a heartbreaking meditation on AIDS, loss, and friendship."[11] Kirkus said the book was "as compulsively readable as it is thoughtful and moving."[3]

NPR's Celia McGee noted, "Makkai’s writing isn’t the kind that calls attention to itself, allowing the people, emotions, personal incidents and public occurrences of her book to take shape with the force of urgency and the authentic, the grievousness of deceit—by lovers, by families, by hope—and the generosity of romance, sorrow, growth and wonder. She unleashes a mathematics as compelling as her attention to the contradictions within personalities."[15]

Newsday's Tim Murphy wrote that Makkai "has, in fact, done a superb job of capturing a group of friends in a particular time and place with humor and compassion. Conversations among her gay male characters feel very real — not too flamboyant, not too serious, always morbidly witty. It's hard not to get drawn into this circle of promising young men as they face their brutally premature extinction."[19]

Kirkus named The Great Believers one of the best books of the year.[3]

Selected awards for The Great Believers
Year Award Result Ref.
2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction Winner [15]
Goodreads Choice Award for Historical Fiction Nominee [20]
National Book Award for Fiction Finalist [3]
2019 Barbara Gittings Literature Award Winner [3][21]
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Finalist [3][4]
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Winner [1][2]
Reference and User Services Association's Notable Books Selection [22][23]

References

  1. 1 2 "ALA Unveils 2019 Carnegie Medals Shortlist". American Libraries Magazine. 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  2. 1 2 Morales, Macey (2019-01-27). "'The Great Believers,' 'Heavy: An American Memoir,' receive 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "The Great Believers". Kirkus Reviews. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  4. 1 2 "Finalist: The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai (Viking)". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  5. ↑ Bostrom, Annie (2018-05-15). The Great Believers. Retrieved 2022-01-05 – via Booklist.
  6. ↑ "Fiction Book Review: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Viking, $27 (432p) ISBN 978-0-7352-2352-3". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  7. ↑ Firman, Melissa (2018-07-10). "The Great Believers". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  8. ↑ Stidham, Jennifer B. (2018-05-15). "The Great Believers". Library Journal. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  9. ↑ Cunningham, Michael (2018-06-25). "Surviving AIDS, but at What Cost?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  10. ↑ East, Ben (2018-08-20). "The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai – review". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  11. 1 2 López, Dan (2018-08-04). "A Burdensome Memory: Rebecca Makkai's "The Great Believers"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  12. ↑ Canfield, David (2018-06-15). "This stunning novel about '80s gay life will break your heart: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  13. ↑ Akins, Ellen (2018-06-22). "Review: 'The Great Believers,' by Rebecca Makkai". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  14. ↑ Manzella, Abigail G. H. "On Rebecca Makkai's The Great Believers". The Kenyon Review. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  15. 1 2 3 "Congratulations to the Winners of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes". Book Marks. 2019-04-13. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  16. ↑ Frank, Joan (2018-06-14). "'The Great Believers,' by Rebecca Makkai". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  17. ↑ Gilbert, Matthew (2021-03-03). "'It's a Sin' and 'The Great Believers' deserve to be watched and read - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  18. ↑ Pendas, Madari (2018-07-24). "'The Great Believers' by Rebecca Makkai". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  19. ↑ Murphy, Tim (2018-06-13). "'The Great Believers': Moving AIDS novel is cathartic". Newsday. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  20. ↑ "The Great Believers". Goodreads. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  21. ↑ Jarnagin, Briana (2019-06-04). "Celebrate the best in LGBTQIA+ literature at the 2019 Stonewall Book Awards". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  22. ↑ Notable Books: 2019. 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2022-01-05 – via Booklist.
  23. ↑ Moore, Ninah (2019-01-27). "2018 Notable Books List: Year's best in fiction, nonfiction and poetry announced". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
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