What I'm Reading: THE AWARD by Matthew Pearl
A literary crime novel
THE AWARD by Matthew Pearl
Matthew Pearl has been a favorite author of mine since his first book THE DANTE CLUB. His latest, THE AWARD, published December 2025, is a clever mash up of crime novel and literary fiction. Beginning with an author’s note that “Some of this happened,” the novel follows David, an emerging author keen to make his mark in the literary circles of his adopted home town of Boston and beyond. When the opportunity to live in the same house as his curmudgeonly idol, Silas Hale, David and his fiancée Bonnie jump at the chance, despite some less-than appealing circumstances. While his proximity fails to gain Hale’s attention, David does manage to win the same literary award that Hale had won with his debut novel. And yet, just as everyone, including Hale, begins to take notice of David, news of a mix up regarding the award reaches David, and events devolve quickly from that point.
Blending a cat-and-mouse plot with incisive commentary on the insular world of authors and literary awards, Pearl’s novel is hard to put down. Amusing and heart-pounding by turns, I found myself reading far into the night.
THE AWARD is available now.
Thank you so much Eileen! I'm so glad you picked up The Award and that it spoke to you, and really appreciate you sharing. I'm only just starting to crawl around Substack, love to see this.