Well fellow readers today was the day that the eagerly awaited Man Booker longlist was announced. So for your delight and delectation here’s the line-up, presented to you in glorious technicolor (note: all covers link to the relevant page on the publisher’s website):
Of the thirteen fiction titles that were chosen for this year’s longlist, chair of judges, James Naughtie said:
“The five Man Booker judges have settled on thirteen novels as the longlist for this year’s prize. We believe it to be one of the strongest lists in recent memory, with two former winners, four past-shortlisted writers, three first-time novelists and a span of styles and themes that make this an outstandingly rich fictional mix…”
A strong list indeed, and for once quite an interesting one (although the inclusion of Me Cheeta is a strange one). As always seems to be the case for me I’ve not read any of these thirteen (although I have shown an interest in a few of them in the past), so if I want to offer any kind of informed opinion on the six that will make the shortlist on Tuesday 8 September, and the eventual winner on Tuesday 6 October, then I’ve another baker’s dozen of titles to add to my reading schedule. Sounds like a heck of a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. Not sure if it’s a challenge I could meet though. We’ll see.
About Rob
Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul" - 
