LONDON (AP) – Two of Israel’s most renowned authors and an Argentine first-time novelist are among six finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.
David Grossman’s “A Horse Walks Into a Bar,” Amos Oz’s “Judas” and Samanta Schweblin’s “Fever Dream” are on a six-book shortlist announced Thursday for the 50,000 pound ($64,000) prize.
Edinburgh International Book Festival director Nick Barley, who chaired the judging panel, said Grossman’s portrait of a failing standup comic and Oz’s story of history and betrayal were masterworks by mature writers with big international reputations.
Schweblin is comparatively unknown. Barley said her beautiful and nightmarish debut novel “Fever Dream” is “a rush” of a novel that can be read in 90 minutes but leaves the reader shaken.
The other contenders are French writer Mathias Enard’s insomniac odyssey “Compass,” Norwegian author Roy Jacobsen’s island family epic “The Unseen” and Danish novelist Dorthe Nors’ tale of driving lessons and self-doubt “Mirror, Shoulder, Signal.”