French novelist Patrick Modiano wins Nobel
French novelist Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday. The Swedish Academy made the announcement in Stockholm.
He was lauded for capturing the "art of memory" and for the use of "identity and time" in his brief novels.
Modiano was described as well-known in France but not elsewhere, and his books have been translated into Swedish more than English.
Missing Persons is one of his better- known books, according to the Academy; it's about a detective who has lost his memory and works to discover his identity.
A 2011 article in France Today described Modiano as the "the greatest French writer alive." The author, 69, lives in Paris. He published his first novel, La Place de l'Etoile, in 1968 and won the Prix Goncourt in 1978.
The Academy lived up to its reputation of unpredictability when it comes to Nobel winners.
Last year's winner was short story writer Alice Munro.
This year's speculation included American Philip Roth, perennial also-ran Joyce Carol Oates, Japanese writer Haruki Maruakami and Svetlana Alexievich of Belarus.