Finalists: "Rapture, Blister, Burn, " by Gina Gionfriddo, a searing comedy that examines the psyches of two women in midlife as they ruefully question the differing choices they have made, and "4000 Miles, " by Amy Herzog, a drama that shows acute understanding of human idiosyncrasy as a spiky 91-year-old locks horns with her rudderless 21-year-old grandson who shows up at her Greenwich Village apartment after a disastrous cross-country bike trip.

WSJ: 2013 Pulitzer winners in journalism and arts

The simple sandals can also shield feet against the beach's hot sand, which might otherwise cause skin to burn and blister on your walk to the water.

CNN: Flip-flops present feet with a painful problem