The Eclectic IMPAC Shortlist Has Arrived

Prizes
April 12, 2011 | 9 books mentioned 4

Related Books:

The IMPAC Award shortlist was announced today. The IMPAC sets itself apart with its unique approach. Its massive longlist is compiled by libraries all over the world before being whittled down by judges. This makes for a more egalitarian selection. It’s also got a long lead time. Books up for the current prize (to be named June 15th) were all published in 2009, putting the IMPAC more than a year behind other big literary awards. There’s a distinct upside in this. By now, nearly all the shortlisted books are available in paperback in the U.S. The IMPAC also tends to be interesting for the breadth of books it considers.

This year’s shortlist is typically eclectic, representing four countries and ranging from bestsellers, to relative unknowns.

covercovercovercovercovercovercovercovercovercover

created The Millions and is its publisher. He and his family live in New Jersey.

● ●
Prizes

Two Debut Novelists on the 2011 Booker Shortlist

Prizes
September 6, 2011 | 9 books mentioned 4

Well-known, established writer (and now four-time shortlister) Julian Barnes is likely the early favorite on the 2011 Booker shortlist, while Stephen Kelman and A.D. Miller make the list with their first novels. Alan Hollinghurst is probably the biggest surprise not to make it through to the next round. The longlist was offered here with some excerpts a month ago, but since you might not have gotten around to them then, we’ll offer the same with the shortlist below.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (excerpt)
Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch (excerpt)
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (excerpt)
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (excerpt)
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller (Staff Pick)

Let us know if you’ve read any of these – and if you think any deserve to win.

Prizes
| 9 books mentioned 4
● ●
Prizes

Booker Shocker: Finkler Takes the Prize

Prizes
October 12, 2010 | 9 books mentioned 1

Howard Jacobson’s The Finkler Question has won the Booker Prize, beating out far better known shortlisters like C by Tom McCarthy and Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey, and Emma Donoghue’s Room, which has been getting quite a lot of buzz of late.

Bloomsbury USA, the book’s stateside publisher, meanwhile, got lucky with the book hitting shelves today.

The publisher’s description calls the book “a scorching story of exclusion and belonging, justice and love, aging, wisdom and humanity. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best.”

An excerpt of the book (scroll down) begins:

He should have seen it coming.

His life had been one mishap after another. So he should have been prepared for this one.

He was a man who saw things coming. Not shadowy premonitions before and after sleep, but real and present dangers in the daylit world. Lamp posts and trees reared up at him, splintering his shins. Speeding cars lost control and rode on to the footpath leaving him lying in a pile of torn tissue and mangled bones. Sharp objects dropped from scaffolding and pierced his skull.

Jacobson has written a number of novels. Probably the best known are The Making of Henry, Coming From Behind, and Kalooki Nights, which was on the 2006 Booker longlist and which Sara Ivry in these pages called “Hilarious, shocking, provocative.”

Prizes
| 9 books mentioned 1
● ● ●

4 comments:

  2. Hey!! Barbara Kingsolver went to school here at Depauw! It is good to see her on the list.

    I will try to check out “Galore” based on the above recommendation.

    Plus, not to be unfun, but hasn’t “Let the Great World Spin” received enough love/attention!?!

  3. Part of me questions how egalitarian the selection method really is. Most of these books already seem to have gotten a lot of attention and critical recognition. If they’re the best books, that’s certainly fine, but I wish selection committees made more of an effort to discover books that aren’t already famous. It just makes me question their methodology.

  4. Michael Crummey’s Galore was my favourite novel of 2009. I am so glad to see it get the recognition it deserves.

Add Your Comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Prizes

Richard Flanagan Wins the 2014 Man Booker Prize

Prizes
October 14, 2014 | 9 books mentioned

Australian novelist Richard Flanagan has won this year’s Man Booker Prize for The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The book begins:

Why at the beginning of things is there always light? Dorrigo Evans’ earliest memories were of sun flooding a church hall in which he sat with his mother and grandmother. A wooden church hall. Blinding light and him toddling back and forth, in and out of its transcendent welcome, into the arms of women. Women who loved him. Like entering the sea and returning to the beach. Over and over.

The book is the story of an Australian prisoner of war, among more than 9,000 who were forced to build a railway through Burma and Thailand. Michael Gorra for the New York Times Book Review drew comparisons to Conrad and Zola and called it formally demanding but also “carefully and beautifully constructed.”

Revisit this year’s Booker Shortlist.

Prizes
| 9 books mentioned
● ● ●
● ● ●