2005 Booker Prize -- The Longlist of Finalists

Thu, 08/11/2005 - 11:37am by sernabad

The 37th Man Book Prize committee has announced the long list of fiction titles for the prestigious 2005 Booker. The Booker Prize is one of the most sought-after literary awards. It honors the best novel from the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The recipient of the £50,000 purse receives instant worldwide recognition, boosting sales tremendously.

Past winners include Alan Hollinghurst for The Line of Beauty (2004), Yann Martel for Life of Pi (2002), and Margaret Atwood, Blind Assassin (2000).

The long list of 2005 finalists, which includes four previous winners, is:
Tash Aw, The Harmony Silk Factory
John Banville, The Sea – scheduled for U.S. publication in 2006
Julian Barnes, Arthur and George – scheduled for U.S. publication in 2006
Sebastian Barry, A Long Long Way

J.M. Coetzee, Slow Man – on order
Rachel Cusk, In the Fold – on order
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
Dan Jacobson, All for Love – not yet scheduled for U.S. publication
Marina Lewycka, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Hilary Mantel, Beyond Black
Ian McEwan, Saturday
James Meek, The People’s Act of Love – not yet scheduled for U.S. publication
Salman Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown
Ali Smith, The Accidental – scheduled for U.S. publication in 2006
Zadie Smith, On Beauty
Harry Thompson, This Thing of Darkness -- not yet scheduled for U.S. publication
William Wall, This Is the Country -- not yet scheduled for U.S. publication

The shortlist will be announced on September 8th and the winner will be announced on October 10.