Finalists for the L.A. Times Book Prizes were announced today, and Adam Begley’s Updike is one of five books in the running to win the award for biography. The others are Robert M. Dowling’s Eugene O’Neill: A Life in Four Acts, Kirstin Downey’s Isabella: The Warrior Queen, Stephen Kotkin’s Stalin: Volume 1 – Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928, and Andrew Roberts’ Napoleon: A Life.

It remains to be seen whether the lack of a colon in Begley’s title will help or hurt.

The other nominees can be found here:  “T.C. Boyle, LeVar Burton lead L.A. Times Book Prizes.”