The New Dirty Dozen

And here they are, the short list, the last men and women standing, the 2010 Man Booker Dozen... (Is two-time winner Peter Kelley Gang Carey just a mandatory nominee by now?)  Apparently they went with a baker's dozen of 13 books.  They'll announce the winner on September 7.  Do you think it's an honor just to be nominated? 

1. "Parrot and Olivier in America" by Peter Carey
2. "Room" by Emma Donoghue (coming in September)
3. "The Betrayal" by Helen Dunmore (not yet available)
4. "In a Strange Room" by Damon Galgut
5. "The Finkler Question" by Howard Jacobson (not yet available) 
6. "The Long Song" by Andrea Levy
7. "C" by Tom McCarthy (coming in September)
8. "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet " by David Mitchell (LA Times review)
9. "February" by Lisa Moore
10. "Skippy Dies" by Paul Murray (coming in August)
11. "Trespass" by Rose Tremain (coming in October)
12. "The Slap" by Christos Tsiolkas
13. "The Stars in the Bright Sky" by Alan Warner

WHO PICKS THESE BOOKS???

We keep asking ourselves and each other:  Who selects these Booker prize-winners, and on what basis?  What is the magic formula, if any, and how does it vary between years?  We discuss how and whether politics, ethnocentricity, culture, age, literary snobbery, or other secret ingredients produce the list that we are so faithfully plundering. 

Here is a peek into the 2010 committee - for a book we have not read as a group, as it was selected after we began our journey back in time.  Does the mighty selection process seem somewhat defanged when you see a mere group of young mortals standing together for an office photograph, or do we get insight into the truly subjective and ever dynamic reality of literature?

And do we still wonder what they were thinking when they chose ______________  (fill in the blank with your most painful Booker memory!)

http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1310

The Most Anticipated Books for the Rest of 2010

Here's what they say is coming...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anis-shivani/the-most-anticipated-book_b_655312.html

Top Memoirs?

HuffPo lists these as top ten favorite memoirs.  What are some of your favorites?

Top Ten Books You Were Forced To Read In School

From Time Magazine.  Have you read them?  Have you re-read them?  Do you agree they are greats?

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2002836_2002835_2003010,00.html?hpt=C2