Tinkers by Paul Harding
Tinkers by Paul Harding was the surprise winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction on Monday. It was rejected by publishers and agents for being a slow, contemplative, meditative, and quiet book. This story has become the most dramatic literary Cinderella story of recent history.
According to Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead, who teaches writing at the Iowa Writers Workshop, “One of the problems I have is making my students believe that they can write something that satisfies their definition of good, and they don’t have to calculate the market,” Ms. Robinson said. “Now that I have the Paul anecdote, they will believe me more.”
This gorgeous use of language and quiet attention to the details of life is what made Tinkers such a phenomenal success.
