The Underground Railroad, about a black woman trying to escape the horrors of slavery, is the most high-profile novel on a diverse list of less well-known books
Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad led the 2016 National Book Award shortlist on Thursday morning as expected. It is no doubt a favorite to win among the very small number of people who are nerdy enough about contemporary literature to actually think about book awards betting odds. It’s so good it’s hard to praise it without whipping out the cliches: it’s an elegant, devastating powerhouse of a book, following a young black woman all over America as she tries to escape the horrors of slavery. When it was published with Oprah’s imprimatur, in August, it was universally acclaimed. It deserved it. That means anyone who follows the whole march of books in a year will expect Whitehead to walk away with the prize.
Related: Colson Whitehead: 'My agent said: Oprah. I said: Shut the front door'
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