What The Story Prize Judges Had to Say About Edith Pearlman's Binocular Vision

© Beowulf Sheehan

When the three judges for The Story Prize make their choices, they provide citations for the books. This year's judges were Sherman Alexie, Breon Mitchell, and Louise Steinman. We include the citations in congratulatory letters we present to each finalist, along with their checks ($20,000 to the winner, $5,000 to the other two finalists). To protect the confidentiality of the judges' votes and the integrity of the process, we don't attribute citations to any particular judge.

Here's what the judges had to say about Story Prize finalist Edith Pearlman's Binocular Vision (Lookout Books):

“Edith Pearlman compresses a lifetime of learning and listening into these masterful stories. Though often set in a particular geographical locale, they encompass the vast landscape of our messy lives and noble intentions, our ache to be understood. I agree with Ann Patchett that this volume is the work of a "stunning intelligence"—the stories reverberate in my mind for days. Structure, rhythm, insight—they're all there. Not a sentence is wasted. Binocular Vision is the book of stories I'd seal into a time capsule and feel confident that when it was unearthed in a century or two, the essence of what it means to live and die and love as a human being would be communicated.”