All the Pretty Prizes

On the challenges of being a Pulitzer juror:

The search for a significant new book, an enduring book, is, in short, a crapshoot, and, as is true of all gambles, the odds favor the house over the player. I like to think that history will vindicate all three of our choices; that someone like me will someday be appalled to learn that “The Pale King,” “Train Dreams,” and “Swamplandia!” were all passed over in 2012. There is, however, no telling. We may be castigated by future generations for failing to nominate a book we dismissed early on, because it struck us as trivial or overwritten or sentimental.

Of course, to a certain extent, it's easy to doubt that there's any point to literary prizes. That is, given how many great books were overlooked by the Pulitzer crowd since the prize was established in 1917.