Hey, it's NPR's Book at the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. A couple of weeks ago, we were talking on the

NPR Books newsletter about the impact of book awards, which, by the way, if you don't subscribe,

you should. You know, we have a fun time over there. It's at NPR.org slash newsletter slash books.

But anyway, we were talking about whether or not an award impacts

whether you actually go out and buy the book. But it's interesting consider the other side of

equation. So Paul Lynch recently won the Booker Prize for his book profit song. And when he went

on stage to accept the award, he said something like, phew, there goes my hard one anonymity.

And he says it like it's a joke, but after listening to today's interview, I'm not sure how much

of a joke it was, because NPR Scott Simon asks him about being a Booker Prize winner and how

that means he's one of the most important writers in the world today.

And you can tell by his answer that it's starting to weigh on him quite a bit.

That's in a minute.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Paul Lynch's novel Profit Song is just won the 20-23 Booker Prize a few weeks ago.

It's set in modern Dublin, and there's an unnamed pandemic and unspecified national emergency,

when One Night Eilish, a biologist for a biotech company and mother of four, answers a knock at the door.

Two police officers are looking for her husband, Larry, a leader in the teachers union.

They say it's nothing to worry about.

But soon, Eilish finds herself in a world in which loved ones go missing.

...