Lawrence Wright, George Packer among authors on nonfiction long-list for National Book Awards

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A pair of bestselling works by staff writers for The New Yorker, Lawrence Wright’s “Going Clear” and George Packer’s “The Unwinding,” were among 10 books chosen for the nonfiction long-list of the National Book Awards.

Besides Wright’s investigation of Scientology and Packer’s bleak account of modern American life, nominees included Terry Teachout’s biography of Duke Ellington and a pair of books about slavery, Alan Taylor’s “The Internal Enemy” and James Oakes’ “Freedom National.” The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, announced the nonfiction picks Wednesday. In an effort to increase awareness of the awards, the foundation has introduced long-lists this year and is announcing the four competitive categories over four days. The young people’s literature and poetry long-lists are already out. The fourth and final category, fiction, will be revealed Thursday.

Categories will be reduced to short-lists of five each next month, and winners will be announced Nov. 20 at a ceremony in Manhattan. E.L. Doctorow and Maya Angelou will receive honorary prizes.

Others on the nonfiction long-list were T.D. Allman’s “Finding Florida: The True Story of the Sunshine State,” Gretel Ehrlich’s “Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami,” Scott C. Johnson’s “The Wolf and the Watchman: A Father, a Son, and the CIA,” Jill Lepore’s “Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin” and Wendy Lower’s “Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields.”

Even with 10 nominees, some high-profile books were left off, including A. Scott Berg’s “Wilson,” a biography of Woodrow Wilson, and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism.”