'Tis that time of year again. The Man Booker Committee has announced their longlist fiction. In regards to the actual list, Chair Michael Portillo commented:
"With a notable degree of consensus, the five Man Booker judges decided on their longlist of 13 books. The judges are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK. We also are happy with the interesting mix of books, five first novels and two novels by former winners."
And the potential winners are:
Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture
John Berger From A to X
Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
Joseph O'Neill Netherland
Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence
Tom Rob Smith Child 44
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole
I bet Rushdie wins. Anyone want to go up against that??
6 comments:
he's already won the booker, the booker of bookers, and the best of the booker, and that was for the same fucking book.
granted, that book is worthy of as much adulation as critics can heap.
he seems like a good bet.
I'll take "A Case of Exploding Mangoes"
I don't get it? Is this a Man prize or not? Where is Bruce Campbell- If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor or Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way. Or Jesse Ventura- I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up. Or William Shatner- Up Till Now: The Autobiography.
Those are real Men.
I think there is a good chance O'Neill will win. The book is slightly more applicable to our times (i.e post 9/11) and seems like something that people can relate to better. That being said, I loved the Enchantress of Florence, but I am not sure Rushdie's magical realism resonates like O'Neills reality will.
Hello,
I would love to let you know about upcoming events at the Center for Book Arts. Please let me know where I could email you that information – thanks very much!
James Copeland
The Center for Book Arts
jcopeland@centerforbookarts.org
Post a Comment