Well, the 2024 Booker Prize shortlist dropped just over an hour ago, and it’s left me with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I’ve already read three of the six finalists; on the other, Orbital, the book I think the least of so far, made the cut along with the Australian entry Stone Yard Devotional, a book that may or may not ever be published in the U.S. as far as I can tell. This already reminds me of last year when the Booker Prize winner, Prophet Song, was not published in this country until after it won the prize. As Yogi Berra supposedly once said, “it’s deja vu all over again.”
Here are the other five finalists to go along with that wonderful cover of Stone Yard Devotional:
So there are now two American authors (James and Creation Lake), one British author (Orbital), one Canadian author (Held), one Dutch author (The Safekeep), and one Australian author (Stone Yard Devotional) still in the running. Of the ones I haven’t read yet, I’m seeing the most positive comments about Held, so I hope to get my hands on that one soon.
Question: now that Book Depository has closed it’s doors forever, does anyone know how I might obtain a copy of the Australian entry without breaking the bank on postage…and shipping time. I don’t think I can buy an e-book version in the U.S. unless the book is published here. Am I wrong (I hope) about that?
