The Booker Prize shortlist was announced this afternoon, and, no surprise, people are already pissed about it. Industry newsletter Publisher's Lunch (sub. required) noted: "What a 'shock.' As usual, manufactured 'surprise' is the fuel of the Booker publicity machine, as the 'longlist' turns out to be a head fake for the real shortlist."

The New York Times, though in a thinly veiled way, seems to be upset too, pointing out that "this year, as sometimes happens, the shortlist attracted more attention for who was not on it," and going on to highlight the omission of American favorite Joseph O'Neill's Netherland before even naming who actually appeared on the list.  read more »

The longlist for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced this morning. Salman Rushdie is the favorite but he'll be up against 13 other writers including Aravind Adiga, Joseph O'Neill, Linda Grant and Tom Rob Smith.

Here's the full list:  read more »

The Man Booker Prize judges want YOU to vote for your favorite novel!  read more »

It was 1993 when Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children was honored as the best novel to have ever won theMan Booker Prize for Fiction in the prestigious literary accolade’s 25-year history. Now, Booker has announced it will present a second one-off award, “The Best of the Booker,” to celebrate its 40th anniversary, the BBC reports. A panel of judges will select six eligible books before handing the final decision over to the public, which can vote for their favorite novel via the Booker’s Web site starting in May. Each year since 1969, the Booker Prize has rewarded what it deems the year’s best novel written by a citizen of the British Commonwealth or Ireland -- in addition to the acclaim and a boost in book sales, the winner also receives 50,000 GBP. Last year, the honor went to Anne Enright for her novel The Gathering, and in 2006, it went to Kiran Desai, author of The Inheritance of Loss. Both authors have been able to embark on worldwide book tours as a result.