Didion, Doctorow finalists for National Book Award

From Reuters.com:

E.L. Doctorow’s Civil War novel The March and Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking a memoir of her husband’s death and daughter’s illness, were among finalists announced on Wednesday for the National Book Award.

Didion and Doctorow are among the best-known and popular of the nominees, after the foundation came under fire last year for nominating a narrow range of obscure writers.