Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson wins the National Book Award

Adam Johnson, who won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for his last novel, The Orphan Master's Son, has now won the National Book Award for Fiction his latest book of short stories, Fortune Smiles. The stories in Fortune Smiles travel across the globe and involve many different scenarios, but they all examine the different ways people address events they can't control. Here are ten words from one of the stories in Fortune Smiles, "Nirvana."
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. buffet
    strike, beat repeatedly
    A strong breeze, hissy and buffeting, like a microphone in the wind.
  2. bumble
    walk unsteadily
    As if blind, it bumbles around the room. Is it autonomous? Has someone been operating it, someone watching our house?
  3. autonomous
    existing as an independent entity
    As if blind, it bumbles around the room. Is it autonomous? Has someone been operating it, someone watching our house?
  4. contemplative
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    He looks into the distance, contemplative. “Shoot,” he says.
  5. sonorous
    full and loud and deep
    His voice lowers, becomes sonorous. “Are you asking about bonds of matrimony?"
  6. melancholy
    a feeling of thoughtful sadness
    We regard each other, his eyes deep and melancholy, and my finger hesitates at the switch.
  7. baffle
    a flat plate that directs the flow of fluid or energy
    For days, there is nothing but the swish of vent baffles, the trill of vital monitors, and Shostakovich, Shostakovich, Shostako­vich.
  8. brooding
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    By family, I meant her distant and brooding mother
  9. tantrum
    a display of bad temper
    Still to be described are tests, tantrums and treatments.
  10. disengage
    release from something that holds fast or entangles
    Charlotte was too disengaged to even point out her nonfunctional fingers and their nonfeeling tips.
Created on Thu Nov 19 06:53:18 EST 2015 (updated Thu Nov 19 11:27:18 EST 2015)

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