Booker Shortlist Omits Salman Rushdie, Joseph O'Neill

There were some surprises in today's announcement of the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize -- the books by betting favorites Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence, and Joseph O'Neill, Netherland, didn't make the cut.

Literary critic Joseph Sutherland was so sure Rushdie would win the Booker that he wrote, "If The Enchantress of Florence doesn't win this year’s Man Booker I'll curry my proof copy and eat it." (He backed off the promise today.)

The nominees for the prize, which will be announced Oct. 14:

Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs
Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency
Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole

I expected Netherland, which I recently reviewed, to make the list. I'm currently reading The Secret Scripture, the only one of the shortlisted books that made it across the ocean to my local Barnes & Noble.

Books · 2008/09/09 · 2 COMMENTS · Link

Comments

What, no Tadowe to rail against this post? I'm sure he's got something to say about the wrongness of Rogers' posting of this comment, especially Rushdie.

#1 · Azrael Brown · 2008/09/09

Azrael rubs his magic lamp, "What, no Tadowe to rail against this post?"

Gevald, I'm your Yiddish genii! Why all the tsoris, bube? Are you tserdryt or just farchadat? Genug shoyn, shoyn tsayt you should shvayg ... sha shtil. What a nebech ... probably shmekel, you know the type ...

Translation for the the non-lazy

#2 · tadowe · 2008/09/09