The Shipping News
Author	E. Annie Proulx
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Scribner
Publication date	1993
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-684-19337-X (hardback edition)

The Shipping News is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx which was published in 1993. It was adapted into a film of the same name, released in 2001. Image File history File links EannieProulx_TheShippingNews. ... Edna Annie Proulx (pronounced ) (born August 22, 1935) is an American journalist and author. ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is about the literary concept. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... Charles Scribners Sons is a publisher that was founded in 1846 at the Brick Church Chapel on New Yorks Park Row. ... Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... ISBN redirects here. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ... Edna Annie Proulx (pronounced ) (born August 22, 1935) is an American journalist and author. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... The Shipping News is a 2001 film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

Plot summary

The story centers on Quoyle, a newspaper worker from New York whose father had emigrated from Newfoundland. Shortly after the suicide of his parents, Quoyle's unfaithful and abusive wife Petal and her lover leave town. Days later she sells their daughter to a 'black market adoption agency' for the sum of $6,000. Soon thereafter, Petal and her lover are killed in a car accident; the young girl is located by police and returned to Quoyle. Despite the safe return of his daughter, Quoyle's life is collapsing and his paternal aunt, Agnis Hamm, convinces him to return to their ancestral home of Newfoundland for a new beginning. The ancestral home is situated on Quoyle's Point. This article is about the state. ... Newfoundland —   IPA: [nuw fÉ™n lænd] (French: , Irish: ) is a large island off the east coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ...

He obtains work as a car-accident reporter for the Gammy Bird, local newspaper of the town of Killick-Claw. The Gammy Bird's editor also asks him to document the shipping news, arrivals and departures from the local port, which soon grows into Quoyle's signature articles on boats of interest in the harbour.

Quoyle gradually makes friends within the community, learns about his own troubled family background, and begins a relationship with a local woman, Wavey. Quoyle's growth in confidence and emotional strength, as well as his ability to be comfortable in a loving relationship become the main focus for the book. A series of deep and disturbing secrets about his ancestors emerge in strange ways. In time, he also learns about his father having raped Agnis (Quoyle's aunt, and his father's sister) in their childhood.

Ashley's influence

In her acknowledgements Proulx states, "And without the inspiration of Clifford W. Ashley's wonderful 1944 work, The Ashley Book of Knots, which I had the good fortune to find at a yard sale for a quarter, this book would have remained just a thread of an idea." Ashley's illustrations and quotes are used at chapter headings throughout the book. Some of the names in the book are taken from knots, for instance Killick hitch and coil. The Ashley Book of Knots is an encyclopedia of knots written in 1944 by Clifford Ashley. ... The killick hitch is a type of hitch knot used to attach a rope to oddly shaped objects. ... A coil is a series of loops. ...

Awards and nominations

• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1994
• National Book Award, 1993
• The Irish Times International Fiction Prize, 1993

The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... The National Book Awards is one of the most preeminent literary prizes in the United States. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

External links

• Photos of the first edition of The Shipping News