Howard Jacobson, David Mitchell and Ali Smith are among the British heavyweight writers who will compete for the Man Booker prize in its first incarnation as a global literary award, it was announced on Wednesday, along with David Nicholls, writer of the bestsellers Starter for Ten and One Day.
Thirteen novels were named on the longlist for the prize, which for more than 40 years has rewarded only Commonwealth and Irish writers. The rules changed last year, sparking fears that it would quickly be dominated by Americans.
In the event, judges chose four Americans: Joshua Ferris, Siri Hustvedt, Karen Joy Fowler and Richard Powers. An almost American, Joseph O'Neill, who is an Irish-born US resident, was also named one of what is known as the Man Booker "dozen".
This year's chair of judges, the philosopher AC Grayling, said it had been a vintage year.
"They are very ambitious books and some of them tackle big issues of the day," he said. "There's a lot of perceptiveness and wisdom in these books, some of them are quite moving and all of them are very difficult to put down once you get into them – a feature of just how richly textured they are and what great stories they tell." ......
They will now get the list down to six, announced in September, with the £50,000 winner named at a formal black-tie dinner.
The Booker longlist in full
Joshua Ferris (US) – To Rise Again at a Decent HourRichard Flanagan (Australia) – The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Karen Joy Fowler (US) – We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Siri Hustvedt (US) – The Blazing World
Howard Jacobson (Britain) – J
Paul Kingsnorth (Britain) – The Wake
David Mitchell (Britain) – The Bone Clocks
Neel Mukherjee (Britain) – The Lives of Others
David Nicholls (Britain) – Us
Joseph O'Neill (Ireland) – The Dog
Richard Powers (US) – Orfeo
Ali Smith (Britain) – How to Be Both
Niall Williams (Ireland) – History of the Rain
[Courtesy: www.theguardian.com / Story link: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/23/man-booker-prize-2014-longlist-revealed-us-writers]
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