Is this the best book trailer of the year or not?

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Two months ago, the corner of the Internet devoted to books went crazy for actor Zach Galifianakis’ appearance in a book trailer for John Wray’s “Lowboy.” Slumped on a red couch and drinking beer, Galifianakis pretended to be Wray. Wray sat on the other end of the couch, pretending to be a bright-eyed, Charlie Rose version of Galifianakis. As far as book trailers go, it had more Hollywood sheen (“The Hangover”!) and was softer-sell than most.

But was it the best book trailer of the year?

That may be determined at Melville House’s first-ever Moby Awards. The independent publisher has decided that the strange and spotty field of book trailers needs some measure of success. Or is it failure? The awards, dedicated to the year’s best and worst book trailers, will be presented in New York in May.

Judges for the awards will be OR Books publisher Colin Robinson, Slate’s Troy Patterson, Jason Boog from GalleyCat, Megan Halpern from Melville House and me.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

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