Joan Didion wins National Book Award

NEW YORK, N.Y., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The National Book Award for non-fiction has been awarded to Joan Didion for her memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking."

Didion's best-seller recalls the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and the illness of her daughter, Quintana Roo, who died weeks before the book was published, The New York Times reported.

The National Book Award for fiction Wednesday night went to William T. Vollmann for "Europe Central," an 800-page novel about Germany and the Soviet Union in the 20th century.

The award for young people's literature went to Jeanne Birdsall for her debut novel, "The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy." The poetry prize went to Pulitzer Prize winner W. S. Merwin.