Hilton Als was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for his work as theater critic for the New Yorker, where he has made a name for himself as an astute reviewer not only of theater but also of dance, music and literature. Als’ first book, “The Women,” published in 1996, toed the line between memoir, biography and criticism in a trio of incisive portraits studying sexual and racial identity in the lives of his subjects, including his mother.