Denis Johnson's "Tree of Smoke," a 600-page journey through the physical, moral and spiritual extremes of the Vietnam War, won the fiction award Wednesday night, while Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA," won in nonfiction.

Robert Hass' "Time and Materials," which includes several poems critical of the Iraq war and the Bush administration, won for poetry. The prize for young people's literature went to Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian."

Each of the winners received $10,000. Runners-up received $1,000.

Johnson's novel, which he has said he first thought of in the early 1980s, has been widely praised since coming out this fall. It tells of spies, counterspies and others caught up in the blur and horror of Vietnam from the day after President Kennedy was shot until the early 1980s.

The author of "Jesus' Son" and other works earned praise for "Tree of Smoke's" recognizable story about the certainty of exploration and suffering and the hope for salvation.

"I'm very sorry to miss this one chance to dress up in a tuxedo in front of so many representatives from the world of literature, and say thank you," the author said in a statement read by his wife, Cindy.

Tweaking "God is Not Great" author Christopher Hitchens, whom he obliquely referred to as "one of our nonfiction nominees," Johnson concluded by saying, "I'd like to thank God."

Johnson, 58, who lives in New Mexico, rarely talks to the media and is currently on a writing assignment in Iraq, says the story that moved on the AP wire this morning.

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