Thurber Prize for American Humour - nominees announced

More for your funny bone this week if you want it: nominees for the Thurber Prize for American Humor were announced on August 12. The prize is awarded annually to a work of humour published in the United States in the previous calendar year. This year's chuckle-filled nominees are:

• I was Told There'd be Cake by Sloane Crosley. Essays.
  
• Lamentations of the Father by Ian Frazier. Essays.
  
• Wrack and Ruin by Don Lee. A novel.
• The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notar. Essays.

The Thurber Prize was first given in 1994 - to this year's nominee Frazier for an earlier work entitled Coyote v. Acme. The award is named after James Thurber, an American humourist who died in the 1960s and who was a frequent contributor to the New Yorker. Last year's prize was given to Larry Doyle for the novel I Love You Beth Cooper (which was released as a film this year). This year's winner will be announced in October.