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Viva la Independence! Indie Press Memoir Nominated for National Book Award
Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press, has proudly announced the selection of The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir, by first-time author Domingo Martinez of Seattle, Washington, as one of five finalists for the 2012 National Book Award for nonfiction. Lyons Press is the lone independent publisher among the non-fiction finalists and Martinez is the only non-Pulitzer Prize winning author. There is also one independent in the fiction finalists: Dave Eggers' A Hologram for the King (McSweeney's Books).
The Boy Kings of Texas is beautiful, painful, and enlightening, as Martinez lays bare his interior and exterior worlds as he struggles to make sense of the violent and the ugly, along with the beautiful and the loving. It’s an authentic coming-of-age story about the traumas and pleasures of growing up in Brownsville, Texas, in the 1980s, and the often terrible consequences when two very different cultures collide on the banks of a dying river.
“We knew we had something special with The Boy Kings of Texas, and we couldn’t be more pleased that others in the community recognize it, too,” said Jim Joseph, President and COO of Lyons Press. “To be a finalist for such a prestigious award and among such critically acclaimed authors is an incredible honor.”
First-time author Martinez—whose manuscript was plucked from obscurity from a pile of unsolicited manuscripts—is included alongside four renowned journalists in the nonfiction category. All four of Martinez’s fellow finalists are Pulitzer Prize winners, published by major New York houses: Anthony Shadid, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East (Houghton Mifflin); past National Book Award winner Robert A. Caro, The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4 (Knopf); Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (Random House); and Anne Applebaum, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956 (Doubleday).
Says author Martinez: “My phone started glowing around 6 a.m., and I happened to be awake. My first thought was, ‘Wow; those bill collectors are starting much earlier nowadays,’ and I ignored it because I didn’t recognize the number, until it went off again about five minutes later and it was my agent, Alice [Martell]. Alice doesn’t mess around: When she calls, it’s important, so I answered, and I could tell right away something was up because of the controlled excitement in her voice. I depend on her to translate most of what happens in this business because I’m so new at it. I mean, I know the National Book Award, but it just wasn’t computing that I was A FINALIST for THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD. What’s really funny is, when you read through that list, it’s almost like there should be question marks behind my name, like ‘Who the hell is this guy??’ ”
In telling his story, Martinez provides a real glimpse into a society where children are traded like commerce, physical altercations routinely solve problems, drugs are rampant, sex is often crude, and people depend on the family witch doctor for advice. The book was published by Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press, in July 2012.
READ THE 9-PAGE FIRST CHAPTER HERE:
http://issuu.com/gpplkenney/docs/the_boy_kings_of_texas_by_domingo_martinez ***
“When I acquired this book, I knew I had something truly extraordinary in my hands,” said Lyons Press editor Lara Asher. “Domingo is a gifted writer and a phenomenal storyteller and someone that I deeply admire. I am delighted to see him receive the recognition for his talent that he so deserves.”
The judges for this year’s National Book Award for nonfiction are acclaimed writers Brad Gooch, Linda Gordon, Woody Holton, Susan Orlean, and Judith Shulevitz. Former winners of this award for nonfiction include Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Tom Wolfe, Henry Kissinger, and David McCullough. The 2012 National Book Award winners will be announced November 14 at a ceremony in New York.