Patrick Modiano Wins the 2014 Nobel in Literature

Patrick Modiano is the 2014 Nobel Laureate in Literature

Patrick Modiano has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The newest Nobel Laureate is the author of over two dozen works including Les Boulevards de Ceinture (translated into English as Ring Roads), which earned him the Grand prix du roman de l’Académie française in 1972, and Rue des Boutiques Obscures (translated as Missing Person) for which the French writer won the Prix Goncourt in 1978.

In the days leading up to the announcement, British betting firm Ladbrokes showed odds in favor of Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o (7/2) and Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami (4/1), but in the end, the reclusive Modiano, who is said to shun media attention and interviews, was selected “for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation.” The prestigious accolade comes with an 8 million kronor prize ($1.1 million).