Man Booker Prize 2009

The announcement dates for this year's award were posted last week:

Tuesday 28 July 2009 - Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2009 longlist announcement

Tuesday 8 September 2009 - Man Booker for Fiction 2009 shortlist announcement

Tuesday 6 October 2009 - announcement of the winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2009

The official web site has an interesting discussion group section. It includes a 2009 Booker Prize speculation thread, where people are listing novels that they believe are worthy of or are likely nominees for the award.

The longlist has been announced as

The Children's Book by A S Byatt
Summertime by J M Coetzee
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall
The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
Me Cheeta by James Lever
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
Not Untrue and Not Unkind by Ed O'Loughlin
Heliopolis by James Scudamore
Brooklyn: a novel by Colm Tóibín
Love and Summer: a novel by William Trevor
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I see that you have already posted the list, christiguc, so I'm retracting my post. Thanks for putting it up!

Of the 13, I've read Brooklyn, and I have The Little Stranger and The Wilderness, but I haven't read them yet. I'm not surprised to see the Byatt, Foulds, and Mantel novels on the list, but I'm disappointed that Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie wasn't selected.

I'll go back out later tonight or tomorrow to pick up some of these books. I'm not sure that the Coetzee novel is out yet.

Here's an article from The Guardian about the announcement:

Heavyweights clash on Booker longlist

Not only have I not read any of the selected, but I don't own any--yet.

Trevor's Love and Summer is listed as being released on September 1; Coetzee's Summertime, as being released on September 3.

I've read The Wilderness, which I thought brilliant, and The LIttle Stranger, which I found the weakest of Waters' novels to date. I didn't know Trevor and Coetzee had new novels forthcoming, will definitely look for those in the next months. Have read some pretty bad reviews of Byatt's new one.

Right, christiguc. All of the others are currently available in the UK. I held off buying the Byatt, Foulds, and Mantel novels earlier today from the London Review Bookshop. However, I'm headed back there tomorrow to pick up Harare North by Brian Chikwava, so I'll get those three and a few others then.

I think only the Harvey, Lever, Toibin and Waters novels are available in the US at the moment.

I've not read any ... but I'm woefully behind in reading "new" fiction. I have a copy of The Little Stranger but probably won't get to it before the short-list and yes, even the winner, are announced. I do intend to read the winner though ... whatever it may be.

PS I've had Brooklyn on hold at the library for some time, should be reading that soon, and just put the Trevor on hold, will be first in line when it comes available. Coetzee isn't listed yet at our library.

According to Amazon US, Summertime by Coetzee won't be published in the US until Oct 27.

the Children's Book was amazing. Go AS Byatt! :-)

>11 bostonbibliophile: I wanted that one until I read a few bad reviews for it. Perhaps it deserves another look.

Actually, the reviews and ratings here on LT are outstanding. I'm throwing caution to the wind on that one! First, though, I want to read Possession.

until I read a few bad reviews for it.

I take that back. I was looking at published reviews to add to the LT book page and can't find all that many bad reviews. But I thought I remembered some.

I didn't read anything bad about it- but then again I didn't read any reviews first! I'm just a huge fan of hers. It's really, really good.

Mostly what I've read has been here on LT threads. So not really reviews per se, just several people struggling with the book.

it's not an 'easy' book- it's long, dense and complicated- so i can see why that would happen. Definitely not a beach read! :-)

I'm embarassed to say that not only have I not read any of these, but I haven't even heard of many of them! Time to take my head out of the books and pay attention!

several of them haven't been released in the US yet.

The Guardian (UK) is having a 'Not the Booker Prize' prize - inviting nominations from readers, and running the contest along the same lines as the Booker. It'll be interesting to follow this - the recommendations given so far look to be very interesting...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/jul/28/not-the-booker-prize

Thanks for posting that, chazzard! That story wasn't in today's print edition. Last year the Booker Prize web site's debate section had a similar but much smaller "award", the Shadow Booker, for books that did not make the longlist but were judged to be "Booker worthy" by the posters.

I bought the Byatt, Foulds, Hall and O'Loughlin at Foyles on Charing Cross Road today; I didn't see the Mawer or the Scudamore there, and I held off on buying the Mantel, as it is over 600 pp, as is the Byatt. I would like to read as many of the longlisted books as I can before the winner is announced on Oct 6, and I hope to get to at least two or three in the next two weeks (all but the Byatt).

20, I love it! Thanks for the link!

I would like to read most of these Booker Prizes - but will not try the Sarah Hall unless there are many praises. Her last book The Carhullan Army put me off. My pedantic review here if anyone interested in her style and my biases. She is a very good writer but the themes and structure were not for me.

Two of my favourite authors are on the list - Coetzee and Trevor. I hope Trevor wins, although I have not yet read his nominated book. (Coetzee already won and has the Nobel so I think he has enough recognition).

A member of the Man Booker Prize discussion group posted a very useful link to a web site that has collected reviews of the longlisted books:

Man Booker Longlist

There appears to be many goodies here, some were already on my radar screen but most weren't. The Byatt won't even be out in the U.S. until the day of final prize is announced!

The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize prize (46 book long(!)) longlist is up! You can vote for your favourite, or just add some more titles to your 'To Be Read' list...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/aug/11/not-the-booker-prize-judge...

So far I've read five of the books on the longlist, and submitted reviews for all of them on LT. This is how I would rank them at the moment:

1. The Glass Room
2. Brooklyn
3. The Quickening Maze
4. Not Untrue and Not Unkind
13. Me Cheeta: The Autobiography

I thought that Me Cheeta was horrible, and certainly not Booker worthy, and I doubt that I'll like any of the others less than it, hence the #13 (last place) ranking.

So far I have 10 of the 13 books, all but Heliopolis, which is still out of print after being released earlier this year, and Summertime and Love and Summer, which haven't been published yet.

I'd love to hear from others who are going through the longlist. I know that Cait86 is, but I'm not aware of anyone else.

I will be reading some from the 2010 long-list and short-list but I probably wont be able to start reading any until after the winner is announced.
I'm still going through the 2009 short list. :-)

Thanks for the rankings kidzdoc, very interesting.

Thanks from me, too kidzdoc. I wishlisted the Glass Room after reading your excellent review.

#25 - theaelizabet, you can order the Byatt book from Amazon.ca if you really want it. With the exchange rate, it might even be reasonably priced.

Tee hee. I've just managed to get Brooklyn from the Library. I've been waiting for it. I'll let you all know what I think of it asap.

Thanks, Nickelini. I think I'll do that!

theaelizabet -- I think it might be cheaper (with shipping and everything) to get it via bookdepository. That's where I bought my copy.

Thanks Nickelini and christiguc for ordering the ordering suggestions. As it turned out, Book Depository was a bit cheaper even figuring in Amazon's Super Saving shipping. (Can't believe I've never ordered from them before.) I bought The Glass Room; The Children's Book will have to wait.

I just discovered Book Depository too; well, I'd known about them for awhile, but I just discovered how great they are!

I just posted over on kidzdoc's thread that the Book Depository now has a US site. A quick spot check of 5 titles showed 4 that cost less than at Amazon (BD helpfully shows Amazon prices on the same page as their own prices) -- and free shipping, of course. But I think they are selling US books on the US site and for British books we'll still need to order from the UK site.

I've just finished Byatt's The Children's Book, which is an incredibly detailed, complex, well-researched novel that deserves to be on the longlist, IMHO. I am going to start either the Mawer or the Foulds next, and am looking forward to them both, but I think the Byatt will be difficult to top.

I've just checked both Amazon (US) and Book Depository. The Children's Book is listed as pre-order for both - not available until October. ??????

>38 catarina1: That's because you have to go to the UK Bookdepository site because the book won't be released in the US until October. Check here (still free shipping).

catarina1,

Amazon.ca has it now.

Thanks #39 and 40. I ordered from the UK site. It was cheaper than the Amazon Canada site and probably would get here faster. Why would it be available in Canada and not the US, on Amazon?

>41 catarina1:: It's an empire Commonwealth thing.

Thank you Rebecca! I just brought my husband a hardcover baseball biography that just came out last month for $12.99 with no shipping. It was $26 at B&N. I think I might love this website.

It is very addictive, and I (and now you) have kidzdoc/Darryl to thank!

#41 I was going to say "be careful or we'll dump your tea again", but I see you are from Portland, home of a wonderful independent bookstore that, alas, probably doesn't have the Byatt either until October. I got to visit Powell's when I was in Portland last month.

Right - I've finished Brooklyn - a great read, I thought... here's my review

http://www.librarything.com/topic/53549

and Book Depository is fantastic - always the cheapest. I feel sorry for my local bookstores...and the delivery is so quick. I can't believe it.

Must try and read some of the others before the shortlist announcement so I can enthusiastically punch the air or thump my fist :)

>45 catarina1: LOL -- right, no Byatt until October, but we have tea.

I live 4 blocks from one of the lesser Powell's - which is still a pretty awesome bookstore. Lucky me!

Oh yay! I heart kidzdoc's reviews and reading list. Since we've gotten collections, he's been my top contributor to my wishlist. I'm also enjoying his reading through the longlist and hope he posts a summary/ranking/recommendation thingy at the end. So it's just one more thing. Thanks kidzdoc for cheap books = more books!

There is more than one Powell's?!!

Oyea, there's the original City of Books, downtown; the Hawthorne annex in inner SE; one in the 'burbs, one at the airport; and there's the technical store, and the garden/cookbook store....

I could seriously squee over half a dozen Powell's. One day I will visit Portland.

LT has produced lots of nerdy book/reading nuggets of info lately. I don't know what I did before I found it.

Who you callin' nerdy??

Myself, I believe.

Great shirt!!

Powell's was one of the reasons for my trip to Portland last month - the other was the gardens - the Japanese Garden and the Chinese garden are wonderful also

#48: Hola, chrine! Thanks for the compliments. Yes, I will plan to rank the books as I finish them, and hopefully I'll read all 13 by year's end, at the latest. This week has been crazy at work, so I doubt I'll get to How to Paint a Dead Man before Saturday.

I just ordered Heliopolis by James Scudamore from (where else) The Book Depository today, the last of the longlisted books I had yet to order. I'm still waiting to receive Love and Summer and Summertime, but I have all of the others.

Is Powell's in Chicago related to the ones in Portland?

No, kidzdoc, Powell's in Portland is the original City of Books. It's an amazing bookstore. Although the Chicago store website says "please visit our sister store in Portland." Hm, I don't think they're "related."

Right. I remember seeing that same "sister store" comment, which is why I wondered if the two stores were related.

Following up on chazzard's post (#20), the "Not the Booker Prize" shortlist was announced today, based on votes from readers of the Guardian Books Blog. In order of the vote, the six books are:

Solo by Rana Dasgupta
Tomas by James Palumbo
The Tin-Kin by Eleanor Thom
Neverland by Simon Crump
This Is How by M.J. Hyland
Intimacy by Jean Ashworth

I bought Solo last month in London, and had planned to buy This Is How soon. I haven't heard of the other four, though. Has anyone else?

It's Not the Booker shortlist time

The Man Booker Prize web site has interviews of most of the authors on the current longlist here:

Getting personal with the Man Booker novelists

My Book Depository book arrived yesterday (or possibly Monday, I didn't check the mail). 14 days after I ordered it. I did have to pay 39 cents to use a credit card with a company not in the U.S., which I didn't know about until it showed up on my bank account and I called the bank and asked what it was for, and the dustcover was a bit battered because the postal carrier crammed the book in our small apartment mailbox instead of using the package box and dropping the key in our mailbox for the second time in a week (I had to call the office and complain). Neither of those annoyances had anything to do with TBD, I just needed to complain a bit because I don't like my books being manhandled. I will be ordering from TBD again and wanted to thank Rebecca and Darryl once more for its discovery.

This year's shortlist has just been announced:

The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Summertime by J.M. Coetzee
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

J M Coetzee in running for first hat trick

>60 kidzdoc: - Good to see The Glass Room on the list. A little surprised to see The Quickening Maze - felt it had some serious structural issues. Byatt and Coetzee are there to give list gravitas but can't see either winning.
The red hot favourite is Mantel - there has been so much money placed on her that one bookmaker thought that it was getting suspicious.

Who is the bookie's best bet?

Here's an article from today's Guardian, which was written before the shortlist announcement. The bookies suspended betting after Wolf Hall became the prohibitive favorite.

I'm very glad to see The Glass Room on the list, as it remains my favorite, and was also very surprised to see The Quickening Maze there. I'm stunned that neither Brooklyn nor Love and Summer made the cut; I thought that one of them might be left off, but not both!

Yes I'm sorry about Brooklyn though a lot of people didn't think it was his best....am reading Love and Summer now - am enjoying it more than The Wilderness but maybe that is because I am feeling a little bit too Alzheimer-ish myself at the moment....

YES! AS BYATT! :-)

Lots of established names on the shortlist, rather than new novelists. I'm surprised at the Foulds as well, and miss Brooklyn, though I am thrilled The Children's Book is still in the running.

So far I've read two on the shortlist, and am currently in the middle of two more, with the Mantel next on my list.

A little surprised about Waters on the shortlist -- I didn't think it was one of her stronger books. I'm reading Brooklyn right now and while I think it's good, I'm not finding it Booker worthy, so wasn't too surprised by that. Very disappointed that The Wilderness didn't make it. I thought that was stunning.

I'm a bit surprised Brooklyn didn't make the cut, since I had heard so much discussion about it, good and bad. I'm pleased to see The Little Stranger there because I loved it, which I thought would have jinxed it for sure. And now, after reading this thread, I've got to get my hands on a copy of Wolf Hall!

I just listened to today's Guardian's Books Podcast, where the literary editors of the Guardian and the Observer and the editor of the Guardian Books page talked about the shortlist, and the book they thought would win or should win. The Observer literary editor favored The Glass Room, and his Guardian counterpart seemed to do the same. The Books page editor favored Wolf Hall, but admitted that she hadn't read The Glass Room yet. The consensus seemed to be that Wolf Hall, the current frontrunner, would be the most likely winner.

Here's a link to the podcast, which is about 15 minutes in length:

The Man Booker shortlist 2009

okay - well here's a rough rule of thumb invented on the spot to guess the winner - it's based on where I'm sitting in the queue at the Brisbane City Council library for the nominees....

Wolf Hall - I'm number 50 in the queue

The Little Stranger - I'm number 38

The Children's Book - I'm number 32

All ordered on the same day a couple of weeks ago so I reckon Wolf Hall is the winner.

For another possibly dodgy but highly entertaining method of guessing the winner as recommended to me by a dear friend for the morning of the Melbourne Cup race ... place all nominees names in an ice-cream bucket and chuck with gay abandon across the floor - place your bet on the one furthest along the carpet.

#70 alexdaw, I like the Melbourne Cup method!.

Just read and enjoyed this article by Robert McCrum in the Observer about the 2009 prize:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/13/booker-prize-2009-robert-mccrum

I've only read one - The Glass Room but am #22 on the library reserve list for Wolf Hall and might buy it before it gets to me.

#70 I had a professor once who claimed to grade exams with a very similar method...by tossing the papers up a flight of stairs, and those that made it the farthest up were A's, and so on.

#72 What a great time-saver!!

What a lazy bum ? A freak winner will be picked, judging is a very serious matter." Booker's Book Prize "should be renamed "Bookie's Book Prize". (Joking! )

The winner will be a "first-timer" ?

Just finished Not untrue and not unkind. Fear I am being unkind by saying that I am not impressed. Sigh.

#75: I agree with you, Alex; it was my next to least favorite of the 10 longlisted novels I've read, just before Me Cheeta, which I couldn't finish.

The prize will be awarded tomorrow. Here are the latest odds, from William Hill. At 10/11, Wolf Hall has the shortest odds ever posted. However, the bookies don't have a good track record; the last bookie favorite to win the award was Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee in 1999.

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall 10/11
Simon Mawer - The Glass Room 7/2
Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger 6/1
J M Coetzee - Summertime 6/1
AS Byatt - The Children's Book 8/1
Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze 12/1

Of the 3+ shortlisted books I've read so far (Wolf Hall, The Little Stranger and the Glass Room--I'm less than 100 pages into The Children's Book) I'd say that Wolf Hall was my favorite by far. From the longlist, I've only read Toibin's Brooklyn, which I preferred over The Little Stranger and the Glass Room, though I liked them both. Interested, as always, to hear of the winner.

NYT's Janet Maslin weighed in today on Wolf Hall: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/books/05maslin.html?ref=books

I've read five of the six books, as I finished The Children's Book yesterday. Wolf Hall is also my favorite, followed by The Glass Room, The Children's Book, Summertime and The Quickening Maze.

I've only read Hilary Mantel's excellent Wolf Hall and Coetzee's Summertime. I think they are both wonderful but very different. Mantel gets the sentimental vote but Coetzee - I just loved the authorial shenanigans - I think I'm secretly hoping it will win. Will look forward to the winner whoever it is and I'm saving these two for rereads.

I'm reading Summertime at the moment and I'm finding the line between fiction and autobiography is totally blurred and I can't tell what is truth and what is Coetzee's imaginings.

Also reading Summertime. Socialpages.

I agree, and I like the effect of the blurred boundaries. He did the same in Boyhood and Youth and I had no idea there was a autobiographical element. Summertime is listed under fiction. I LOVE his writing.

However, he has won before so perhaps give to someone else. I personally hope Mantel wins because she has not had the recognition she deserves. I would rate the three I have dipped into as a tie between Mantel and Coetzee, with Mawer a very distant third.

Cynical John Crace of the Guardian has a 'digested read' for the shortlist here

**Drum roll for the announcement today**

Will it be live streamed do you think?

The Guardian announced the winner of the Not the Booker award today, Solo by Rana Dasgupta:

Not the Booker prize: the winner and the future

And the winner is.... Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel!

As expected, Wolf Hall is the winner of this year's Booker Prize:

Bookies favourite wins the 2009 Prize

the suspense has been killing me!! I've been hitting refresh refresh refresh and listening to the radio - at last !!! Good for Hilary and I was just reading how some bookie said she'd never make it because she was a woman, British and a previous Booker judge. Ah I do like someone who beats the odds - even when they're a favourite!!

alexdaw--I finally took to following #booker on Twitter. Apparently those in attendance were happily twittering away. A supposed London lit editor who goes by missdaisyfrost twittered, "asbyatt looks like bulldog chewing wasp," and "sarah waters is giving her editor a little shoulder squeeze. sweet!" immediately after the announcement. Isn't this technology weird?

Three cheers for all of the longlisted novels! Several of this year's books, especially The Glass Room and The Children's Book, were superior to the winners of the 2007 and 2008 prizes, IMO. (I've only followed the award closely since 2007, so I can't comment about the prizes before then.)

89--kidzdoc--That's about the time my interest kicked in. You've read far more of the listed authors than I have, but this year seems strong to me, too. Now, back to The Children's Book for me. Very happy that Wolf Hall won.

Very happy about Wolf Hall winning, even though I'm only halfway through. I really liked The Glass Room but not as much as WH. I'll try The Children's Book soon based on all the LT recommendations!

theaelizabet I'm still figuring out twitter but I do like it for book (and booker) stuff!

More articles about the announcement, from the Guardian and BBC News, respectively:

Booker prize goes to Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall

Mantel named Booker prize winner

According to the Guardian article, the vote was three to two in favor of Wolf Hall at the end of the judges' three hour meeting, but there is no mention of which book(s) received the other votes.

I hope that the other authors will also gain more attention; I'll be on the lookout for more books by Byatt, Mawer and Trevor, in particular.

Can't wait for the book to be released in the US (October 13).

From the Telegraph: "Mantel is now working on a sequel to Wolf Hall, called The Mirror & The Light, which will chronicle Cromwell's later years and end with his execution in 1540."

Oh sure, give away the ending!

LOL! Sorry...

>96 teelgee: Too funny!

I just read an interesting article about all the historical fiction on this year's list:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article68...

The piece was written by one of this year's judges, Lucasta Miller. I found this comment particularly interesting: "Being made to read 132 novels in four months may be some people’s idea of a cruel and unusual punishment, but it does enable one to cast a sweeping eye over the literary landscape". I usually read about 80-90 books a year, and I read a lot. How does someone read 132 novels in four months? Obviously by page 30 or so, they'll know it's not Booker material, and abandon the book, I would think. Do the judges get paid for this? I'd have to stop all other activity to get all that reading done, so they'd have to pay very handsomely. Does anyone know how this works?

Hmm, I'll bet they get paid. Or if they are professors, their institutions probably give them paid leave because of the prestige of the Booker.

Hey, they get all those free books, what more do you need?? ;o)

>93 kidzdoc:

The book that received the other two votes was Summertime.

>102 HoldenCarver: Excellent!

The two books I've read, so far, from this years short-list are far more enjoyable then some I've read from previous years short-lists.
The Little Stranger was a page turner, finished it in a couple of days, and it's not a small book.
The Children's Book, held my interest, and covered a vivid range of topics. One thing I liked very much was the interaction between the Brits and Germans before WW1. It was something that has been covered up, in many ways, since the Wars and this is one of the first books I've read that explores it. There is plenty of well researched historical information, which I loved. The more I think about this book the more it grows on me. Just loved it.

One thing I liked very much was the interaction between the Brits and Germans before WW1. It was something that has been covered up, in many ways, since the Wars and this is one of the first books I've read that explores it.

Yes, it's alluded to all over the place, but not usually taken on. I'm interested in reading more about it too. Move The Children's Book up my wishlist (actually, I'm waiting for it to come out in soft cover).

Oh, the soft cover version was released months ago, here in Aus. Interesting the varied ways books are released in different countries.

Hmm, well I haven't actually checked for awhile. . . . (flips over to Amazon.ca) . . . okay, yep, it's available here too. Okay, now I know what to buy next!

No soft cover in the States yet. :o(