For a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author, Five thousand dollars ($5,000).
Awarded to "Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)" by Stacy Schiff (Random House).
Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "Clear Springs: A Memoir" by Bobbie Ann Mason (Random House), and "Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love" by Dava Sobel (Walker & Co.).