The Book Prize Index

A Civil Action

Jonathan Harr

A Civil Action is a 1996 work of non-fiction by Jonathan Harr about a water contamination case in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 1980s. The book became a best-seller and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. The case is Anderson v. Cryovac. The first reported decision in the case is at 96 F.R.D. 431 (denial of defendants' motion to dismiss).

True Crime & JusticeTrue Crime & Justice · medium confidenceTrue Crime & Justice81 signalsLlm Classifier: True Crime & Justice -> True Crime & JusticeAward Category: Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize: Nonfiction -> Arts & CriticismTopic Classifier: Activist Biography -> BiographyActivist BiographyCrime, Policing & ViolenceCivil Rights & Racial JusticeHousing, Cities & Urban Life

Award History

2 wins · 4 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor1995WinnerSecondary source
Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize: Nonfiction1996WinnerSecondary source
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current InterestMajor1996FinalistSecondary source
National Book Award for NonfictionMajor1995FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (4)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    • Woburn, Massachusetts80%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    35 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 55%.