The Wall Street Journal takes a lukewarm tone regarding Herta Muller (via The Literary Saloon): “I am happy to have made Ms. Müller’s acquaintance without being eager to revisit her.” The final sentence of the WSJ article, written by Richard Woodward, indicates that Muller’s books are likely to stay on the shelves — not exactly a […]
Thank God for bookies. While literary prognosticators give us wet dreams of lit crushes, bookies give us good old numeric odds, backed up by hard cash. Not that they usually know what they're doing (see: last year. J.M.G. Le Clezio, 14 to 1 odds — and when Harold Pinter won, he wasn't even in the […]
The French writer Jean-Marie Gutav Le Clezio just won the 2008 Nobel prize for Literature. He was eleventh on the list of betting sites, offering 14/1 odds, just between Inger Christensen and Michael Ondaatje. He’s published thirty-odd books, a few of which have been translated into English. Many people identify two distinct periods in his […]
Nothing could be more foolish than betting on the Nobel. At least with the National Book Award and the Man Booker you have a shortlist to choose from. With the Nobel, it’s anyone’s guess. Besides, I’ve lost plenty of money betting on the stock market, which these days might be even more foolish than betting […]
