The Best of the Booker
Encyclopedia
The Best of the Booker is a special prize awarded in commemoration of the Booker Prize's 40th anniversary. Eligible books included the 41 winners of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969. The six shortlisted titles were announced on May 10, 2008 and were chosen by novelist Victoria Glendinning
, broadcaster Mariella Frostrup
and Professor of English at University College London
John Mullan
. Among the nominees are the only two authors to have won the Booker twice, Peter Carey and J.M. Coetzee, who were nominated for their novels Oscar & Lucinda and Disgrace respectively.
The winner, as chosen by a public vote, was Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
, and was announced on July 10 at the London Literature Festival. Midnight's Children not only won the 1981 Booker, but also the special 1993 Booker of Bookers prize, which commemorated the award's 25th anniversary. This represented an unprecedented third Booker victory for Rushdie.
The shortlisted titles were:
Victoria Glendinning
The Hon. Victoria Glendinning, CBE , is a British biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist; she is President of English PEN, a winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, was awarded a CBE in 1998 and is Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature.- Biography :She was born in Sheffield...
, broadcaster Mariella Frostrup
Mariella Frostrup
Mariella Frostrup is a Norwegian-born journalist and television presenter, well known on British TV and radio, mainly for arts programmes. Her 'gravelly' voice was once voted the sexiest female voice on TV, and research to find 'the perfect voice' has indicated that Frostrup's voice is one of the...
and Professor of English at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
John Mullan
John Mullan
John Mullan is a Professor of English at University College London. He specialises in 18th century fiction. He is currently working on the 18th-century section of the new Oxford English Literary History....
. Among the nominees are the only two authors to have won the Booker twice, Peter Carey and J.M. Coetzee, who were nominated for their novels Oscar & Lucinda and Disgrace respectively.
The winner, as chosen by a public vote, was Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Midnight's Children
Midnight's Children is a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie about India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism...
, and was announced on July 10 at the London Literature Festival. Midnight's Children not only won the 1981 Booker, but also the special 1993 Booker of Bookers prize, which commemorated the award's 25th anniversary. This represented an unprecedented third Booker victory for Rushdie.
The shortlisted titles were:
- (1973) J.G. Farrell, The Siege of KrishnapurThe Siege of KrishnapurThe Siege of Krishnapur is a novel by the author J. G. Farrell, published in 1973.Inspired by events such as the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow, the book details the siege of a fictional Indian town during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 from the perspective of the British residents...
- (1974) Nadine GordimerNadine GordimerNadine Gordimer is a South African writer and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature when she was recognised as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".Her writing has long dealt...
, The ConservationistThe ConservationistThe Conservationist is a 1974 novel by 1991 Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer. The book was a joint winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction.-Plot summary:... - (1981) Salman Rushdie, Midnight's ChildrenMidnight's ChildrenMidnight's Children is a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie about India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism...
- (1988) Peter Carey, Oscar & Lucinda
- (1995) Pat BarkerPat BarkerPat Barker CBE, FRSL is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres around themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her work is described as direct, blunt and plainspoken.-Personal life:...
, The Ghost RoadThe Ghost RoadThe Ghost Road is a novel by Pat Barker, first published in 1995 and winner of the Booker Prize. It is the third volume of a trilogy that follows the fortunes of shell-shocked British army officers towards the end of the First World War... - (1999) J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace