The haunting novel about an Israeli victim of a suicide bombing (translated from Hebrew by Hillel Halkin and published by Harcourt), won first place at the 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Friday.
The evening ceremony at Royce Hall marked the 27th anniversary of the book awards and kicked off the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Author A.B. Yehoshua, who did not attend the ceremony, thanked the judges via video conference and talked about his work.
He emphasized the atmosphere of confusion and bereavement that characterized Israel at the height of the intifada and his moral obligation to shake the feelings of indifference and alienation toward the victims from both sides.
The award ceremony was hosted by author and PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer.