Two American Authors Make the Shortlist for the 2014 Man Booker Prize

Posted on September 10, 2014

The Man Booker Award shortlist was announced today and two Americans have made the cut. The award is the most prestigious literary award in Great Britain and has traditionally been open only to writers from the British Commonwealth. But that's all changed now.

The awards have been opened to writers outside the British Commonwealth. This upset quite a few people in Britain, but thrilled American authors. The award carries a hefty $80,000 cash prize, in addition to the prestige factor.

So, who made the cut? There are six authors on the list. The two Americans who made the grade are Joshua Ferris and Karen Joy Fowler. The other nominees include Australian Richard Flanagan and British authors Ali Smith, Howard Jacobson (who won the award in 2010) and Neel Mukerjee. The winner will be announced on October 14, 2014.

Joshua Ferris is nominated for his novel To Rise Again at a Decent Hour (Viking). The brilliant comic novel centers on dentist Paul O'Rourke, a man of the modern world. His life is confusing. He is a Luddite, but loves his iPhone. He says he's an Atheist, but wonders if there really is a God. When someone steals his identity and creates interesting social media pages in his name, he is horrified. At first furious, he is determined to find out who is impersonating him online on Twitter, Facebook and a personal website. Then it gets really weird: fake Paul may be more interesting than real Paul. Ferris, who turns 40 in November, was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the 2007 PEN/Hemingway Award.

Karen Joy Fowler is nominated for her novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Serpent’s Tail), a gripping and at times deeply disturbing story about the Cooke family and a social experiment that had devastating consequences for and entire family. The narrator, Rosemary, tells the story of her and siblings' lives including the life of her sister Fern. It's hard to explain much more without giving spoilers, so we'll just say: read it.

The other novels that made the short list are Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Chatto & Windus); Howard Jacobson's J (Jonathan Cape), Neel Mukherjee's The Lives of Others (Chatto & Windus), and Ali Smith's How to Be Both (Hamish Hamilton).

This year's judging panel includes AC Grayling (Chair), Jonathan Bate, Sarah Churchwell, Daniel Glaser, Alastair Niven and Erica Wagner. British sportsbook and oddsmaker Ladbroke's thinks the Americans have no chance at winning. Right now it is giving 2/1 odds that Neel Murkerjee will win. with Ali Smith coming in second at 3/1. Karen Joy Fowler is second to last at 6/1 odds and Joshua Ferris is the anchorman with 12/1 odds that he will be the winner.