Stein-Toklas book wins Young Lions award

Monique Truong's The Book of Salt, a fictionalized take on the Paris salon of lesbian legends Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, has won the fourth annual Young Lions award. The 35-year-old Truong, a Vietnamese immigrant who lives in New York City, will receive $10,000. The Young Lions award, sponsored by the New York Public Library, honors fiction writers 35 or younger. Other nominees included Susan Choi for American Woman, Jordan Ellenberg for The Grasshopper King, Maile Meloy for Liars and Saints, and Lara Vapnyar for There Are Jews in My House. The winner was announced at a ceremony Wednesday night, with presenters including author Rick Moody and actor-author Ethan Hawke. Previous winners include Jonathan Safran Foer for Everything Is Illuminated and Colson Whitehead for John Henry Days.