[stereoman]

I probably won't be betting on it but it's nice to know it's out there if you are.

Ladbrokes' prices ~



William Hill's odds ~

* The Life Of Pi - Yann Martel (2002) 4/1
* Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (1981) 5/1
* The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje (1992) 7/1
* Amsterdam - Ian McEwan (1998) 8/1
* The Famished Road - Ben Okri (1991) 8/1
* The God Of Small Things - Arundhati Roy (1997) 8/1
* Disgrace - J M Coetzee (1999) 10/1
* The Gathering - Anne Enright (2007) 10/1
* The Sea - John Banville (2005) 11/1
* Last Orders - Graham Swift (1996) 12/1
* Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth (1992) 12/1
* Schindler's Ark - Thomas Keneally (1982) 12/1
* The Line Of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst (2004) 14/1
* The Remains Of The Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (1989) 14/1
* The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (2000) 16/1
* The Inheritance Of Loss - Kiran Desai (2006) 16/1
* Life And Times Of Michael K - J M Coetzee (1983) 16/1
* Possession - A S Byatt (1990) 16/1
* The Ghost Road - Pat Barker (1995) 20/1
* The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (1978) 20/1
* Vernon God Little - D B C Pierre (2003) 20/1
* How Late It Was, How Late - James Kelman (1994) 25/1
* Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively (1987) 25/1
* Oscar And Lucinda - Peter Carey (1988) 25/1
* Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle (1993) 25/1
* Rites Of Passage - William Golding (1980) 25/1
* The True History Of The Kelly Gang - Peter Carey (2001) 25/1
* Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald (1979) 28/1
* Hotel Du Lac - Anita Brookner (1984) 33/1
* The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis (1986) 33/1
* Saville - David Storey (1976) 33/1
* The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer (1974) 40/1
* In A Free State - V S Naipaul (1971) 40/1
* Heat And Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1975) 50/1
* Holiday - Stanley Middleton (1974) 50/1
* Staying On - Paul Scott (1977) 50/1
* The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens (1970) 66/1
* Something To Answer For - P H Newby (1969) 66/1
* G - John Berger (1972) 80/1
* The Siege Of Krishnapur - J G Farrell (1973) 80/1
* The Bone People - Keri Hulme (1985) 100/1

The list of forty-one will be reduced to a shortlist of six sometime in May, and then the winner will be announced sometime in July.

The winner of the 25th anniversary was Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. Has opinion changed or was there a better book out in the last 15 years!?

It's a public vote when it gets to the shortlist of six!

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Best Booker winner to be chosen
The Best of the Booker award launched: Man Booker Prize news

[stereoman]

OOOH! Nominations have been announced this morning and the six are:

* 1973: The Siege of Krishnapur - JG Farrell
* 1974: The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer
* 1981: Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
* 1988: Oscar and Lucinda - Peter Carey
* 1995: The Ghost Road - Pat Barker
* 1999: Disgrace - JM Coetzee

Winner will be announced on July 10th.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Rushdie tipped for Booker treble

Can't disagree about Salman Rushdie probably being the hot favourite for this but even though I usually fear a sting from the judges there's no guarantee public voting will have less nobbling involved.

I don't know how mad the Australians are for Peter Carey or the South Africans for JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer for instance though.

[stereoman]

Odds from William Hill:

* Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children 1981) 6/4
* Pat Barker (The Ghost Road 1995) 3/1
* Peter Carey (Oscar And Lucinda 1988) 4/1
* J M Coetzee (Disgrace 1999) 5/1
* Nadine Gordimer (The Conservationist 1974) 8/1
* J G Farrell (The Seige Of Krishnapur 1973) 10/1

Huh. I thought Salman Rushdie might go odds-on. Midnight's Children should win but stranger things have happened.