Long wins Hatchet Job review award

13 February 2013 Last updated at 11:34 GMT  Long described Cusk as a "peerless narcissist" in the Sunday Times review A Sunday Times reviewer who dismissed award-winning novelist Rachel Cusk's divorce memoir as "vague literary blah" has won Hatchet Job of the Year.

Camilla Long described Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation, as "quite simply, bizarre," in the piece published in March 2012.

She called Cusk a "peerless narcissist" saying the book was full of narrative gaps with "acres of poetic whimsy".

Long said she hoped the award would encourage "wild, exciting criticism".

Her award included a golden hatchet and a year's supply of potted shrimp from the award's sponsor, a fishmonger.

Cusk's book was published last year to generally negative reviews, although The Daily Telegraph found it "full of beauty" and The Independent complimented Cusk for her "honesty, courage, and the ability to depict her experiences in exquisitely crafted language".

However, Long described it as "a needy, neurotic mandolin solo of reflections on child sacrifice and asides about drains".

'Trenchant review'

"She tramples anyone close to her, especially [her husband] Clarke, whom she has forced to give up his job in order to look after the kids," she wrote.

Last year's inaugural winner of the "angriest, funniest and most trenchant review" went to Adam Mars-Jones for By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham, published in the Observer.

This year's finalists included attacks on two of Britain's most eminent novelists, Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie.

Ron Charles' review of Amis' satirical saga Lionel Asbo in The Washington Post described the book as a "ham fisted novel" full of "blanched stereotypes".

In the New York Review of Books, Zoe Heller was scathing in her assertion of Rushdie's memoir Joseph Anton, saying: "The world is as large and as wide as it ever was; it's just Rushdie who got small.''

The Hatchet Job award was established by literary website The Omnivore "to encourage fearless and honest reviewing".

Organisers insist they only pick on established writers strong enough to take the criticism.

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Wanted beat One Direction to award

The Wanted have beaten One Direction to win the best group award, as chosen by a public vote.

More than one million people took part in the poll, which was part of the Virgin Media Awards.

The I Found You singers beat the former X Factor contestants by just 0.08% to win the trophy.

"This is amazing, thank you so much to every one of you that voted like maniacs," tweeted The Wanted when their win was announced.

Continue reading the main story Group: The WantedSolo artist: Justin BieberMusic Video: Katy Perry, Wide AwakeAlbum: Justin Bieber, BelieveTV show: Dynamo: Magician ImpossibleTV moment of the year: Holmes' Impossible JumpTV actor: Benedict Cumberbatch, SherlockTV actress: Dame Maggie Smith, Downton AbbeyMovie: Snow White And The HuntsmanHottest actor: Robert PattinsonHottest actress: Kristen Stewart

Rivalry between the two boybands has been played up as both groups have been working on developing their careers in the US.

In the past The Wanted have lost out on prizes to One Direction, including being beaten at the MTV VMAs in the new artist category.

Dynamo's Magician Impossible also won TV show of the year, with over a third of the vote, beating Sherlock and Doctor Who.

Benedict Cumberbatch was awarded best TV actor, ahead of Doctor Who's Matt Smith, while his mystery leap to the death got Sherlock the best TV moment of the year prize.

Dame Maggie Smith was also recognised for her role in ITV's period drama, Downton Abbey.

Other award winners included American stars Justin Bieber and Kristen Stewart.

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One Year After Whitney Houston's Grammys-Eve Death: Five Award Shows That Were Touched by Tragedy

by Joal Ryan Sat., Feb. 9, 2013 7:30 AM PST

John Shearer/Getty Images, Craig Sjodin/ABC

The 2012 Grammys was one for the history books.

And sadly so.

Held one day after the sudden death of singer Whitney Houston, the music-industry's prime promotional event hastily remade itself, opening with an L.L. Cool J prayer, and showcasing a Jennifer Hudson a cappella rendition of "I Will Always Love You."

Here's a look at five other instances where awards shows were forced to deal with tragic circumstances beyond their control:  

All the scoop on Sunday's 55th Annual Grammy Awards

1. Remembering Pearl Harbor: Shortly after Japan's attack on the United States, the Motion Picture Academy voted to cancel the 1942 Academy Awards. The decision subsequently was reversed, and the ceremony went on, though like never before. There was no host; attendees were asked to wear business attire; dancing was nixed.

2. The President's Been Shot: As March 30, 1981, got underway, Ordinary People was hours away from claiming Best Picture at that night's Academy Awards. But then at 2:27 p.m. ET, President Ronald Reagan was wounded by a would-be assassin, and the Oscars was called off. With Reagan's prognosis good, the show went on 24 hours later. Among its highlights: a pre-taped greeting from the president himself.

3. 9/11: In 2001, the Sept. 11 terror attacks suspended business as usual, including the Primetime Emmys, originally slated for Sept. 16. Rescheduled for Oct. 7, and set to feature a live segment with then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the show was iced again when the U.S. war in Afghanistan was launched that same day. The show finally went on, without incident, and with low-key goodwill, on Nov. 4.  

Five big ways Hollywood was changed by 9/11

4. Assassination: The April 4, 1968, shooting death of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. resulted in turmoil throughout the country, including in Hollywood, where the Academy Awards ceremony was scheduled to go on just four days later. When prominent African-American stars, including Best Actor nominee Sidney Poitier, announced they'd sit out the show, the event was rescheduled for April 10, one day after King's funeral. Poitier attended, Gregory Peck paid tribute to King, and a crime drama that hinged on race, In the Heat of the Night, won Best Picture.  

5. Long Live the King of Pop: The 2009 BET Awards were held four days after the June 25, 2009, death of Michael Jackson, and it showed. The event underwent a "total overhaul" in working in all-star tributes to Jackson.

Divas who died too soon

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