Man Booker Prize 2014 Longlist Announced

Following extensive consultation, the Man Booker trustees decided this year to change the rules which had previously allowed only British and Commonwealth authors to be considered for the prize. Consequently, the six judges chaired by philosopher Anthony Grayling chose 13 books by four Americans, six Britons, two Irish writers and one Australian.

* To Rise Again at a Decent Hour,  Joshua Ferris (Viking)

* The Narrow Road to the Deep North,  Richard Flanagan (Chatto & Windus)

* We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves,  Karen Joy Fowler (Serpent's Tail)

* The Blazing World, Siri Hustvedt (Sceptre)

* J, Howard Jacobson (Jonathan Cape)

* The Wake, Paul Kingsnorth (Unbound)

* The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Sceptre)

* The Lives of Others, Neel Mukherjee (Chatto & Windus)

* Us, David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)

* The Dog, Joseph O'Neill (Fourth Estate)

* Orfeo, Richard Powers (Atlantic Books)

* How to be Both, Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)

* History of the Rain, Niall Williams (Bloomsbury)

The Man Booker, which is awarded to the best novel of the year in the opinion of the judges, is worth £50,000 to the winner. Previous winners include Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and Life of Pi by Yann Martel. The shortlist will be announced on 9th September and the winner on 14th October.