The 2008 Man Booker Prize longlist has been announced and I’m sure we’ll be delving into some of them in The Crafty Writer Book Club soon. If you haven’t already done so, please drop by this month’s Book Club discussion which looks at Bill Bryson’s delightful Shakespeare: the World as a Stage. Next month we will look at Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which was shortlisted for last year’s Man Booker. So now, without further ado – drum roll please – here is this year’s longlist:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.A chaffeur named Balram rises to the top of Indian society after murdering his employer. The story is told in a series of letters from Balram to the Premiere of China.
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry.An old woman reminisces about her life from her residence at a mental hospital, but her past may not be as it seems.
From A To X by John Berger.A’ida writes letters to her husband Xavier while he is imprisoned for insurgency.
The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser.A Henry James scholar searches for his lost dog in the Australian bush while flashbacks detail his affair with an artist.
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant.A young Jewish girl growing up in London learns of her family’s mysterious past.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif.A fictional take on the death of Pakistani dictator General Zia ul-Haq, who died in a plane crash in 1988.
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher.The tale of two middle-class families in Sheffield, England during the Thatcher era.
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie.The worlds of Mughal India and Renaissance Florence collide in this historical epic.
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith.Set in 1950’s Soviet Russia, a former war hero must track down a serial-killer who targets children.
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz.Narratives intertwine in this story about the bizarre Dean family.
Who’re you tipping to take the prize? Nominate your favourite here, and help decide which one(s) we discuss in future Book Club sessions:
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