The A to X of the 2008 Man Booker longlist
The thirteen books on this year's Man Booker Prize longlist 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 couldn't love a jury more.
I knew John Berger had a new book coming out in September, but it never occurred to me that it might be in the running - I suspected he was blacklisted after his acceptance speech in 1972. King: A Street Story is one of my favourite books of all time, and I was terribly disappointed that it wasn't even shortlisted in 1999. I can't wait to read From A to X.
And a book about cricket as well! Marvellous.
(Although Susan Hill won't agree.)
Labels: Adiga, Amitav, Booker, books, Child 44, Gaynor Arnold, Hensher, John Berger, Kretser, Linda Grant, Man Booker Prize, Mohammed Hanif, Netherland, Rushdie, salman, Sebastian Barry, Susan Hill, Toltz
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Curried Salman?
The longlist for the 2008 Man Booker Prize will be announced on Tuesday, and predictions are flying around - especially at the Picador blog where they are offering £50 worth of books to whoever guesses the most right. I wasn't planning on making any predictions after jinxing Gerard Woodward last year, but for the chance of another fifty quids worth of books I don't have space for, or time to read, what the hell!
Here are my wild guesses:
Aravind Adiga - The White Tiger
Nadeem Aslam - The Wasted Vigil
Robert Edric - In Zodiac Light
Damon Galgut - The Impostor
Steven Galloway - The Cellist of Sarajevo
Dawn Garisch - Once, Two Islands
Helen Garner - The Spare Room
Sadie Jones - The Outcast
Michelle de Kretser - The Lost Dog
Elizabeth Lowry - The Bellini Madonna
David Park - The Truth Commissioner
Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress Of Florence
Helen Walsh - Once Upon A Time In England
...and here are another thirteen I could equally well have picked:
Sebastian Barry - The Secret Scripture
John Burnside - Glister
Andrew Crumey - Sputnik Caledonia
Peter Carey - His Illegal Self
Amitav Ghosh - Sea of Poppies
Mohammed Hanif - A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Zoë Heller - The Believers
Howard Jacobson - The Act of Love
Adam Mars-Jones - Pilcrow
James Kelman - Kieron Smith, Boy
Joseph O'Neill - Netherland
Ross Raisin - God's Own Country
Tim Winton - Breath
Significantly (or perhaps not) two former judges have nailed their colours firmly to the mast, telling the world exactly what is going to win this year - not that they agree, of course...
Susan Hill, author, blogger, and Booker judge in 1975, is certain that The Spare Room by Helen Garner will...or, erm...should win this year's prize; whereas John Sutherland, a judge in 1999 and 2005, insists that: "if The Enchantress of Florence doesn’t win this year’s Man Booker I’ll curry my proof copy and eat it."
Well, I've heard of having to eat your own words - but someone else's?
It's especially brave considering how many people find Rushdie's novels indigestible...
Labels: Booker, John Sutherland, Picador, Rushdie, Susan Hill
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