Booker Prize

Today the longlist for the Man Booker Prize was announced.

The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw
The Sea by John Banville
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
Slow Man by J. M. Coetzee
In the Fold by Rachel Cusk
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
All For Love by Dan Jacobson
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Saturday by Ian McEwan
The People’s Act of Love by James Meek
Shalimar The Clown by Salman Rushdie
The Accidental by Ali Smith
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
This Thing Of Darkness by Harry Thompson
This Is The Country by William Wall

As a would-be scholar in contemporary Brit lit, I'm a little disturbed to discover: a) I don't recognize/know anything about some of these authors; b) I wasn't even aware that two of my favorite authors who are on the list had books coming out this year; and c) so far, I've only read one of these books.

In all fairness, several of the books on the list haven't been released yet (September or later for the hardcover), and although I've only read one on the list, another is coming in the mail (ordered before this announcement). But still, I really should at least have a passing familiarity with Booker nominated authors/books to call myself a contemporary Brit lit scholar.

Then again, I have so little time to read my comps stuff, let alone anything else, that maybe I'll just wait for the shortlist to be published and read that.