Adam Mars-Jones Wins Hatchet Job of the Year Award

Posted on February 8, 2012

Adam Mars-Jones has won the Hatchet Job of the Year award. His prize is a year's supply of potted shrimp. Mars-Jones won for his review of By Nightfall by author Michael Cunningham.

Mars-Jones criticized Cunningham for using an "armour-plating of literary references" in his novel. Mars-Jones also says the novel is "filled with thoughts about art, or (more ominously) Thoughts about Art."

The Hatchet Job of the Year is new British literary prize given by The Omnivore, a site that aggregates press reviews. The Omnivore says the prize "aims to raise the profile of professional critics and to promote honesty and wit in literary journalism."