After years of enduring tantalizing rumors that she would win the Nobel Prize for Literature, South African novelist Nadine Gordimer developed a pat response for nosy journalists: "I would say, 'If I ever win it, I'll let you know,' and I'd put the phone down." Then one day in 1991, while standing in the kitchen, Gordimer--whose piercingly authoritative phone manner reflects the high moral seriousness of such books as Burger's Daughter and July's People--received the call that ended the speculation. "I was, of course, delighted," she says. "Everybody must be when they get the Nobel Prize."
Delighted at first, that is....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
