Joseph Earl Thomas has won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize for God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer.
Thomas’ novel, published in June by Grand Central, follows one hospital shift in the life of Joseph, a Philadelphia emergency department tech, nurse’s aide, and Army veteran. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised the book as “an astonishingly accomplished novel, often funny, often tragic” and “just stunning.”
In an interview with Kirkus, Thomas said, “I’m interested in questioning narrative and critique as forms, rather than purely telling a good story or making a good argument directly about the things we already know to be true. This turned out to be the most rewarding, though, transforming that into a voice and a style that I can be proud of beyond a particular moment or topic.”
The judging panel for the prize was composed of writers Merve Emre, Raven Leilani, Jonathan Lethem, and Tyriek White. Shortlisted for this year’s award were Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao, They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar, Ask Me Again by Clare Sestanovich, Fire Exit by Morgan Talty, and Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga.
The First Novel Prize was established in 2006. Previous winners include Hannah Tinti for The Good Thief, Ben Fountain for Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, and Tommy Orange for There There.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
