Late into last evening at the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York City burning questions were answered, awards were handed out, speeches were made.

Almost all bets were on Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke for the fiction award. I read some contrarian articles in the last week, but overall the odds were in Johnson’s favor. And they were justified. It certainly was my favorite for the award and one of the best things I’ve read this year.

Tim Weiner’s Legacy of Ashes won for the non-fiction category, edging out Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great) and Edwidge Danticat (Brother, I’m Dying), among others. Robert Haas, the former Poet Laureate, won for Time and Materials and Sherman Alexie won the young people’s literature prize for his semi-autobiographical The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

I’m pleased to say that we’ve got three of the four winners in our upcoming Holiday Gift Guide.