Hurrah! If you were troubled at the thought that the world doesn't have quite enough book prizes, there's yet another one to add to your betting calendar.It's the Desmond Elliot Prize, which will be rewarding writers whose first novels have "both literary and page-turning value".
That sounds nice. But, um, what exactly does it mean?
Handsome, irritatingly young, and reputedly moody author of Child 44 Tom Rob Smith is pegged a dead cert FTW by those key arbiters of literary taste, William Hill.
There are only two other books on the shortlist itself, of which one is notably Gifted by Booker also-ran Nikita Lalwani. But hang on. Can we conclude from this that the other first novels which appeared on the last Booker longlist were not very page-turning indeed? Difficult for me to say with authority - I didn't read 'em, since they all looked a bit dull.
[Books courtesy Phil Moore's Flickr stream]
There are only two other books on the shortlist itself, of which one is notably Gifted by Booker also-ran Nikita Lalwani. But hang on. Can we conclude from this that the other first novels which appeared on the last Booker longlist were not very page-turning indeed? Difficult for me to say with authority - I didn't read 'em, since they all looked a bit dull.
[Books courtesy Phil Moore's Flickr stream]
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