The Nobel Project

I should probably start by explaining the origin of the title. I am not the Lofty Idealist. The name derives from a criteria for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In almost all of the speeches that explain why someone wins, the phrase "for his lofty idealism" or something along those lines is seen frequently. The Lofty Idealist is, therefore, my name for winners of that prize, and it is my hope to spend some time with them, and get to know how such a diverse group came to be unified by such a common thread, and by diverse I do not mean in the usual way - they are predominantly white Western European males - but in the way they are diverse as thinkers and writers. 

I completely recognize that there are other criteria involved in a Nobel Prize being awarded, which are not always in keeping with a spirit of lofty idealism themselves. I'm fully aware that I could have just as easily launched the Giller Prize Project, or the Booker Project, or indeed the Not-Nobel Prize, since there are probably more fine writers who haven't won than have. in fact, I'm currently reading Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, which would top that list for sure). I chose the Nobel because I could use some lofty idealism in my life, and it seems as good a path as any.