Everybody's talking about Patti Smith's nonfiction win at last night's National Book Awards, probably because no one has read the fiction winner, Jaime Gordon's
Lord of Misrule. (Seriously... anyone?) I can't find video of Smith's apparently teary acceptance speech; instead,
here's Smith on Fresh Air earlier this year, talking to Terry Gross about the book. I don't read a ton of nonfiction, so I don't really feel inclined to comment on whether Smith's book really was the best nonfiction title of the year, but
I did like it a lot—she's an amazing lady.