Events Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft - Rice & Zelikow Simon & Schuster paid US$4.2 million for the hardcover publishing rights for The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans after the self-published book appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. New Books The Apocalypse Watch - Robert Ludlum Blood Sport - James B. Stewart The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield The First Man (Le premier homme) - Albert Camus Five Days In Paris - Danielle Steel The Horse Whisperer - Nicholas Evans Independence Day - Richard Ford The Island of the Day Before - Umberto Eco Landscape and Memory - Simon Schama The Lost World - Michael Crichton Man Ray, 1890-1976 - Man Ray, Andre Breton Maskerade - Terry Pratchett Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus - John Gray Miracle in Seville - James A. Michener Morning, Noon, & Night - Sidney Sheldon Our Game - John le Carré The Rainmaker - John Grisham Rose Madder - Stephen King Silent Night - Mary Higgins Clark The Tortilla Curtain - T.C. Boyle Births Deaths January 9 - Peter Cook, comedian, satirist and writer January 31 - George Abbott, writer, director, producer February 4 - Patricia Highsmith, author February 12 - Robert Bolt, writer February 21 - Calder Willingham, writer November 16 - Robert H. Adleman, American novelist and historian December 2 - Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist Awards Booker Prize: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance See 1995 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards. Nebula Award: Robert Sawyer, The Terminal Experiment Newbery Medal for children's literature: Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons Nobel Prize for Literature: Seamus Heaney Prix Goncourt: Andreï Makine, Le Testament français Prix Décembre: Jean Échenoz, Les Grandes Blondes Prix Médicis French: Vassilis Alexakis, La Langue maternelle and Andreï Makine, Le testament français Prix Médicis International: Alessandro Baricco, Les châteaux de la colère Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Horton Foote, The Young Man From Atlanta Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Philip Levine, The Simple Truth Whitbread Best Book Award: Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum