The longlist for the 2005 Booker Prize was announced yesterday to considerable praise. Word on the street is that this is the strongest crop of British novels in decades, with a mix of literary greats, first-time novelists, and long-time midlist authors deserving of accolades.
You’ll recognize names like Coetzee, McEwan, Ishiguro, Rushdie, and Zadie Smith. Names you might be getting to know well quite soon include Tash Aw, Marina Lewycka, and Harry Thompson, and James Meek.
But of course, the only way to really honor this year’s list, we think, is to make a list. So here you go – the 2005 Booker Longlist List:
Nominees: Tash Aw, John Banville, Julian Barnes, Sebastian Barry, J.M. Coetzee, Rachel Cusk, Kazuo Ishiguro, Dan Jacobson, Marina Lewycka, Hilary Mantel, Ian McEwan, James Meek, Salman Rushdie, Ali Smith, Zadie Smith, Harry Thompson, William Wall
Total Number of Nominees: 17
Number of Previous Winners: 4
Number of Men: 12 (yes, maths nerds, that means only 5 women)
Number of Nominees Living in London: 8
Most Nominated Publishers: Jonathan Cape, Faber & Faber, and Hamish Hamilton (each with three)
Number of First Time Novelists: 3
Number of Really Really Well Known Novelists: 6
Notable Omission: Nick Hornby for A Long Way Down
Nominated Novels that Haven’t Been Published Yet: 4
Worst Title: All for Love (Dan Jacobson)
Best Title: Shalimar the Clown (Rushdie)
Number of Nobel Laureates: 1
Projected Winner: Zadie Smith for On Beauty (because she is too famous and acclaimed to have not won it yet), or James Meek for The People’s Act of Love (because it’s garnering gushing reviews)
The shortlist will be announced on September 8th, and the winner on October 10th.
