Blake Bailey, who won the National Book Critics Circle award for his biography of John Cheever, has been nominated this year for his memoir THE SPLENDID THINGS WE PLANNED: A Family Portrait (Norton). Bailey’s book is a sensitive and harrowing portrayal of his relationship with his older brother Scott, whose self-destructive behavior had a corrosive effect on their family.
Bailey was also nominated for an NBCC for his first book, A TRAGIC HONESTY: The Life and Work of Richard Yates. His biography of Cheever was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Bailey’s latest biography is the acclaimed FARTHER & WILDER: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson, and he is currently at work on a biography of Philip Roth.