Man Booker Prize: Two American writers make the cut for the shortlist
Two Americans made the cut for the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize this year, the first that the prize could be won by writers from anywhere in the world as long as their novel was published in English and released in the UK.
American authors Karen Joy Fowler of 鈥淲e Are All Completely Beside Ourselves鈥� and Joshua Ferris of 鈥淭o Rise Again at a Decent Hour鈥� are two of the writers who are on the shortlist for the prize. The others are Neel Mukherjee for 鈥淭he Lives of Others,鈥� Ali Smith for 鈥淗ow to Be Both,鈥� Howard Jacobson for 鈥淛,鈥� and Richard Flanagan for 鈥淭he Narrow Road to the Deep North.鈥�
The winner will be revealed on Oct. 14.
鈥淎s the Man Booker prize expands its borders, these six exceptional books take the reader on journeys around the world, between the UK, New York, Thailand, Italy, Calcutta and times past, present and future," A.C. Grayling, who is heading up the judges panel, said as he announced the shortlist, according to the . "We had a lengthy and intensive debate to whittle the list down to these six. It is a strong, thought-provoking shortlist which we believe demonstrates the wonderful depth and range of contemporary fiction in English.鈥�
The inclusion of two American writers out of six contenders seems to have soothed the fears of some of those who thought the US would overtake the prestigious prize. arts correspondent Rebecca Jones wrote that 鈥渇ears the prize would be swamped by American writers have proved unfounded鈥� and writer Hannah Furness wrote that in the shortlist, 鈥淏ritish writers ward off US contenders."聽
Monitor fiction critic Yvonne Zipp called Fowler鈥檚 novel 鈥渙utstanding鈥� her new novel will land with the force of a haymaker,鈥� while James Parker of Barnes & Noble found 鈥淩ise鈥� to be 鈥渋ncoherent鈥� at times and 鈥渢he elements do not, finally, knit. Which is a shame, because the inner mystery 鈥� that is, the mystery of existence 鈥� is worth addressing. You might say that it is the only thing worth addressing. And Ferris has made a sprawling, brawling, linguistically illuminated attempt to do so. My opinion? He'll get it right next time.鈥� In addition, Melissa H. Pierson of B&N wrote of Flanagan鈥檚 writing in 鈥淩oad,鈥� 鈥淔lanagan is a writer so profoundly observant that every other phrase manages to be compact and expansive at once. If this sounds like the definition of poetry, it should鈥� [The book] is not perfect鈥� But it dares the big revelation.鈥�
