The 2004 PEN/Faulkner Award Nominees have been announced. They are:

Frederick Barthelme, Elroy Nights
ZZ Packer, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
Caryl Phillips, A Distant Shore
John Updike, The Early Stories
Tobias Wolff, Old School

I still need to read the new Barthelme, but right now I’m rooting for Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.