I am extremely pleased to report that my friend Adrienne Mayor’s riveting (if queasy-making) biography of Mitradates, “Poison King,” is a finalist for the National Book Award. It’s wonderful to see a skillfully executed and absorbing account of an obscure bit of history get this sort of well-deserved attention.

Congratulations, Adrienne. And to the rest of you, click above and read it now — so when she wins, you can say you’ve already read it.