Man Booker Prize

The long list for the Man Booker Prize has been announced. The short list will be announced on Thursday, September 6. Check out the new website, which now has articles and a discussion forum.

The longlist is:
• Darkmans by Nicola Barker (4th Estate)
• Self Help by Edward Docx (Picador)
• The Gift Of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Myrmidon)
• The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
• The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies (Sceptre)
• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
• Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (Viking)
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
• What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn (Tindal Street)
• Consolation by Michael Redhill (William Heinemann)
• Animal’s People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster)
• Winnie & Wolf by A.N.Wilson (Hutchinson)

Of these, I've read only The Welsh Girl, by Peter Ho Davies, which I liked a lot. But it's a quiet book with a simple plot and it doesn't seem to be the kind of thing this prize favors, but then again the judges change every year so who can really say.

Thanks to Mary for the tip.