Overall, it’s an engaging read. The characters are diverse and colourful, probably a reflection of the multicultural space that Britain has become. And there’s a lot of action and dialogue, a lot of moving, a lot of happening, and only brief descriptions - something which I enjoy for the most part, but which after a certain point becomes tiresome. In the “Introduction”, Ian Jack, a member of the jury that chose the 20 “finalists” notes that (and this is an approximate translation I’m making now) “The novels of the young British writers [...] prove an energy, freedom and variety [...] that many countries would envy, even the US, where literature is more professional and disciplined.” Still, I couldn’t help reading in the tiny bio that precedes each story that most of these writers attended creative writing courses; some even have their masters degree in Creative Writing. So, I have to wonder, what is this, if not some sort of professionalising literature, of….(umm…) breeding? I mean, you take a person of mediocre talent and help him/her make the best of it. Which is great, in essence, but which can also (I think) lead to some sort of inflation of such novelists…right? Anyways, enough with the thinking

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