Publication Date: December 2, 2025
The author of Save Our Souls and The Dante Club makes his eagerly awaited return to fiction with this irreverent and propulsive novel about a young writer trying to make his way through a cutthroat literary scene that turns deadly.
David Trent is an aspiring novelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, trying to navigate his ambitions in a place that has writers around every corner.
He lives in an apartment above a Very Famous Author named Silas Hale who, beneath his celebrated image, is a bombastic, vindictive monster who refuses to allow his new neighbor even to make eye contact with him.
Until young David wins a prestigious award for his new book.
Suddenly Silas is interested—if intensely spiteful.
But soon, the administrator of the award comes to David with alarming news, forcing the writer into a desperate set of choices.
Fate intervenes—with shocking consequences. . . .
With the wit and psychological wisdom of The Plot and The Winner, The Award is a timely, razor-sharp, and unputdownable novel about writing groups, publishing, ambition, human foibles, and the dangerous things we will do to get ahead.
David Trent fancies himself a writer, just waiting to hit it big with his manuscript. Discovering a famous author living downstairs serves as a catalyst for life-altering decisions.
Author Matthew Pearl sets the story in Cambridge, bringing to life the competitive nature of fiction writing in The Award.
David’s obsession with getting attention from Silas borders on the absurd. Whether it is the untenable living conditions or repeated rejection from Silas, there’s a certain sense of joy when David finally gets a publishing deal.
What happens next can’t be made up. The author incorporates innovative twists, setting the stage for a number of wrecked lives. It is thought-provoking, along with a bit of humor.
The Award delivers a flawed main character caught up in a maelstrom of poor decisions.
Matthew Pearl’s books have been international and New York Times bestsellers and have been translated into more than thirty languages. His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and Slate, and he edits Truly Adventurous magazine. He has been chosen as Best Author in Boston magazine’s “Best of Boston” issue and received the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction. He lived in the Boston area for many years and now lives in Florida.
