Book News
Man Booker Prize finalists.
Previous winners A.S. Byatt and J.M. Coetzee were among six finalist announced for literature’s prestigious Man Booker Prize.
Byatt’s Edwardian family saga “The Children’s Book” and Coetzee’s autobiographical “Summertime” are leading contenders for the fiction award.
A victory for South Africa’s Coetzee would make him the first writer to win the Booker three times. He took the prize in 1983 with “Life & Times of Michael K” and in 1999 with “Disgrace.” Byatt won the Booker in 1990 for “Possession.”
They face strong competition. Bookmakers have reported a surge of bets on Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall,” a historical novel set during the reign of Henry VIII.
The other contenders are Adam Foulds’ “The Quickening Maze,” inspired by 19th-century poet John Clare; Simon Mawer’s “The Glass Room,” the story of a Jewish family set against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism; and Sarah Waters’ “The Little Stranger,” a spooky tale that unfolds in 1940s England.
The Booker is open to writers from Britain, Ireland or the Commonwealth of former British colonies.
The winner will be announced Oct. 6. The Associated Press
First Lines
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
The pirate’s head had disappeared. William heard the speculations from a group of idlers on the quay nearby, wondering whether it would be seen again.
“Na, him be gone for good,” said a ragged man of mixed blood, shaking his head. “De ally-gator don’t take him, de water will.”
A backwoodsman shifted his tobacco and spat into the water in disagreement.
“No, he’s good for another day — two maybe. Them gristly bits what holds the head on, they dry out in the sun. Tighten up like iron. Seen many a time with deer carcasses.”
William saw Mrs. McKenzie glance quickly at the harbor, then away. She looked pale, he thought, and maneuvered himself slightly so as to block her view of the men and the brown flood of high tide, though since it was high, the corpse tied to its stake was naturally not visible. The stake was, though — a stark reminder of the price of crime. The pirate had been staked to drown on the mudflats several days before, the presistence of his decaying corpse an ongoing topic of public conversation.
Trade Paperback Best Sellers
1. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Shack, William P. Young
3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
4. Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, by Glenn Beck
5. The Weight of Silence, by Heather Gudenkauf
6. Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell
7. The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks
8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
9. Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout
10. My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme
Publishers Weekly
