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Debuts Edge Favorites for Booker Shortlist

Posted Sep 9, 08 8:12 AM CDT in Arts & Living 

(Newser) – The jury for the Man Booker Prize announced its shortlist today—and left off the two books most hotly tipped to win the prestigious literary award, reports the Bookseller. Six novels were chosen, including two debuts. But many were surprised by the omission of Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence, which had the shortest odds, and Joseph O'Neill's Netherland, the bestseller about post-9/11 New York that has won rave reviews.

The six novels nominated for the prize are:

  • Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
  • Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
  • Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies
  • Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs
  • Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency
  • Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole
The winner will be announced on Oct. 14.

Sources Bookseller.com, BBC

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Joseph O'Neill, right, whose novel Netherland was the hot favorite for the Booker Prize, did not make the shortlist.   (Getty Images (by Event) Individuals)
Irish writer Anne Enright, who won last year's Booker Prize for her novel The Gathering.   (AP Photo/Alastair Grant,File)
Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence was passed over for this year's Booker Prize.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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