The Paperboy is a 1995

1995 in literature

The year 1995 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea is opened by Jimmy Carter....

 novel published by American author Pete Dexter

Pete Dexter

Pete Dexter is an American novelist. He was the recipient of the 1988 National Book Award for Fiction for his novel Paris Trout.-Biography:Dexter was born in Pontiac, Michigan...

.

Plot summary

Four years earlier Hillary Van Wetter was jailed for the murder of an unscrupulous local sheriff, Thurmond Call. Call had previously stomped Wetter's handcuffed cousin to death. Wetter is now on death row and awaiting execution. In prison Wetter receives correspondence from Charlotte Bless, a woman he has never met but who has fallen in love with him and is determined that he should be released and that they should marry. Bless provokes immense sexual tension in any situation, given her beauty and presence. Bless attempts to prove Wetter's innocence by enlisting the support of two investigative reporters from a Miami newspaper hungry for a salacious story. Charlotte enlists them in the cause. The two journalists have starkly different motivations, as Yardley Acheman is fueled by ambition while Ward James, heir to the newspaper's publisher, is naively idealistic.

The evidence against Wetter is inconsistent and the writers are confident that if they can expose Wetter as a victim of redneck justice then their story will be a potential Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

 winner. However tricks of the journalist's trade are played, corners are cut, facts are fudged small inconsistencies are ignored and Yardley sleeps with Charlotte. Therefore with this support, Wetter is released from prison and the pair win the Pulitzer. However it soon becomes apparent that the writers underestimated the danger that Wetter poses to society. After marrying Charlotte Bless, Wetter murders her. Consumed by guilt, Ward commits suicide.

Reception

The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

described the work as an "eerie and beautiful novel". The reviewer added that "the pacing works to the novel's advantage, forcing us to linger in its eerie emotional straits." Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

gave the novel a B+, describing it as "a wise and fascinating tale well told". The novel was also awarded the PEN Center USA

PEN Center USA

PEN Center USA, founded in 1943, is one of two PEN centers in the United States and 145 centers in the world. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1981...

 literary award for fiction in 1996.

Film adaptation

Screen adaptation plans have been going on for over ten years between Dexter and Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 director Pedro Almodovar

Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...

. Millenium Films picked up US distribution rights to the film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival

2011 Cannes Film Festival

The 64th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 11 to May 22, 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition...

. Lee Daniels

Lee Daniels

Lee Louis Daniels is an American actor, film producer, and director. He produced Monster's Ball and directed the film Precious, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director; the film won two of the awards.-Early years:Daniels was born on Christmas Eve, 1959, in...

 will direct, with Almodovar producing the project scheduled to begin in summer 2011. Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey

Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...

 and Zac Efron

Zac Efron

Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...

 will star in the film, with Oscar winner Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...

to take on the role of Charlotte.