''Charming Billy'', a novel by American author

Alice McDermott Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is an American writer and university professor. She is the author of nine novels and a collection of essays. For her 1998 novel '' Charming Billy'' she won an American Book Award and the U.S. National Book Aw ...

, tells the story of Billy Lynch and his lifelong struggle with alcohol after the death of his first love. The novel was published by FSG in 1997 or 1998 and has since been republished by

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bull ...

(as a Picador Modern Classic). It won the

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...

and the

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

, and was shortlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

References

External links

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Charming Billy
' at Goodreads *
Charming Billy
' on Macmillan 1997 American novels Farrar, Straus and Giroux books National Book Award for Fiction–winning works Novels set in New York (state) {{1990s-novel-stub