News In Brief

OH, ITS YOU AGAIN, Somewhere in Iceland there's a woman who must wonder if there's a bulls-eye on her car that's visible only to other people. Reports from the town of Akureyri say she was involved in two collisions with the same motorist in 24 hours. Crash No. 1 happened as the other vehicle was pulling out of a parking lot. She wasn't hurt, but her car was beyond repair. So she rented another, only to be hit a second time as she crossed an intersection. This, in a town of 15,000 people - on an island where it's possible to drive for hours without seeing anyone else. Oh, the other driver? He claimed low sunlight had blinded him.

BUT SHE FORGOT TO GET EGGS Fancy yourself a smart shopper? Then try to out-do Janet Pare and see how far you get. The Nashua, N.H., resident emerged from a Market Basket store with $469.07 worth of groceries - for which she handed the cashier just 3 cents. Well, that's not quite accurate. She also was armed with 211 redeemable coupons that took almost a year to collect and organize.

Five honored with National Book Critics Circle Awards A short-story writer won this year's fiction prize from the National Book Critics Circle, a not-for-profit group of editors and critics. In the second year of eligibility for non-US citizens, Canadian Alice Munro became the second foreigner to receive the fiction prize. In 1998, the fiction winner was British author Penelope Fitzgerald. The 1999 winners:

Fiction Alice Munro - "The Love of a Good Woman"

Nonfiction Philip Gourevitch - "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories From Rwanda"

Biography/Autobiography Sylvia Nasar - "A Beautiful Mind"

Criticism Gary Giddins - "Visions of Jazz: The First Century"

Poetry Marie Ponsot - "The Bird Catcher"

- Associated Press