Winner of the Year
Carol Shields' delicate literary novel The Stone Diaries managed to elbow aside myriad self-help books to rule the paperback best-seller lists.
Sinner of the Year
Despite widespread accusations that Lorenzo Carcaterra fabricated large portions of his Hell's Kitchen memoir, Sleepers, it spent weeks on best-seller lists and earned $2.1 million for the movie rights.
Better Read When Dead Award
To Louisa May Alcott, Albert Camus, and Edith Wharton, whose books sold like hotcakes.
Dumb Quote of the Year
''Not many people have read the book,'' said Demi Moore about changing the ending of Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter for the movie version.
Bad Title of the YearMadeleine Blais' book about a girls' basketball team in Amherst, Mass.: In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle.
Career Move of the Year
Veteran Doubleday editor David Gernert quit his job to become an agent. His first client? A guy named John Grisham.
Ghost Writer of the Year
Amy Tan revealed that spirits called ''Yin people'' helped her write her latest novel, The Hundred Secret Senses
Best of Breed Award
Four of the year's most captivating novels evoked animal life: Jane Smiley's Moo, Stephen Fry's The Hippopotamus, Robert Bakker's Raptor Red, and Philip Weiss' Cock-A-Doodle-Doo.
Heavyweight Chomp (Or Is That Chump?) Of The Year
Brit bad boy Martin Amis ditched his longtime literary agent for Andrew ''the Jackal'' Wylie and procured an advance of nearly $800,000 for his new book. Amis celebrated by leaving his wife, acquiring a girlfriend, and spending $30,000 on a new set of teeth.
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