It's Friday 13th - an unlucky don't-go-out day for the superstitious - but it was reported this morning that the 13 books on the Booker long list are doing pretty well. Sales are up on previous years - you have to go back to 2001 for them to be better when Ian McEwan's Atonement and Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass were contenders.
So, that's cheering news. Times are hard but people still want new stories. It's a basic human need. As soon as we learn to walk, we dance; as soon as we can grab a crayon or stick of charcoal from the fire we draw and as soon as we have words, we tell stories and listen to them...
So, that's cheering news. Times are hard but people still want new stories. It's a basic human need. As soon as we learn to walk, we dance; as soon as we can grab a crayon or stick of charcoal from the fire we draw and as soon as we have words, we tell stories and listen to them...
Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap is the most popular book on the long list - set in Melbourne, it's been described as a satanic version of Neighbours.
The winner - announced in October - will receive £50,000, while the five runners-up will each receive £2,500 each.
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