The Importance of the Man Booker Prize

There are so many awards every year for books, so why is the Man Booker so important? Huffington Post puts it best here:

The prize is seen as a mark of literary quality – which means a guaranteed rise in book sales.

Winning books are often optioned for movies, they get a huge amount of international press coverage. and the winning author is also given a check for £50,000, making it one of the most valuable literary prizes in the world.

–Booker Prize Facts and Why You Should Care Who Wins at Huffington Post

This year sees four British and two Canadian authors in the running for this prestigious award;

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

I am about halfway through The Sense of An Ending, which feels much like a worthy successor to Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger, and it is wonderfully rich in literary reference while being a relatively easy read. I would put it as my favourite to win, though that is a bit unfair since I haven’t read enough of the other titles to judge them fairly.

Watch this space for an announcement of the winners!