The Man Booker Prize long list 2010

The long list for this year's Man Booker Prize has been announced, and I have to admit I've been tardy about getting the news out, since the list was announced last Tuesday. The list is given at the bottom of this post.

The short list will be announced on 7 September, and by that time The Writers' Arms will have provided a review of each of the long-listed books. So drop by from time to time to read the view here and add your comments if you have read any of the books yourself.

Andrew Motion, who is chairing the panel of judges, has emphasised that the 13 books on the long list have been chosen "without reference to the past work of their authors." However, if you have read something that one of these writers has published, why not add your comments in order to create a fertile debate here on this year's list.

You may have noticed an interesting dialogue in yesterday's Observer between Patrick Neate and Robert McCrum on the merits of this year's list. It raises the question of what exactly the Man Booker is for. Feel free to add your thoughts below!

The judges joining Andrew Motion, the former Poet Laureate, for the 2010 Man Booker Prize are Rosie Blau (Literary Editor of the Financial Times), Deborah Bull (Creative Director of the Royal Opera House, dancer, writer and broadcaster), Tom Sutcliffe (journalist, broadcaster and author) and Frances Wilson (biographer and critic).

Here is the long list for 2010. Many of these books are only currently available in hardback, which makes them relatively expensive even with the discounts on offer these days. If you follow the links below and hunt around, you may be able to find out when the paperback editions are due out.

Peter Carey, Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber)

Emma Donoghue, Room (Pan MacMillan - Picador)

Helen Dunmore, The Betrayal (Penguin - Fig Tree)

Damon Galgut, In a Strange Room (Grove Atlantic - Atlantic Books)

Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)

Andrea Levy, The Long Song (Headline Publishing Group - Headline Review)

Tom McCarthy, C (Random House - Jonathan Cape)

David Mitchell, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet (Hodder & Stoughton - Sceptre)

Lisa Moore, February (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Paul Murray, Skippy Dies (Penguin - Hamish Hamilton)

Rose Tremain, Trespass (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Christos Tsiolkas, The Slap
(Grove Atlantic - Tuskar Rock)

Alan Warner, The Stars in the Bright Sky
(Random House - Jonathan Cape)