As though we need another book with anything like this title; however, I must admit to being a sucker for every one of them, if for no other reason than in their discursive tour of the literary world, I might fasten on to a few monuments or even wrecks that had not yet come to my attention.
So, too, with this book--refreshing because it comes from the perspective of a publisher and literary Judge whose primary work takes in the U.K. Frequent reference is made to the Man Booker prize and to recent prize winner and nominees--Ian McEwan, John Banville, Alan Hollinghurst.
But one of the delights of this particular excursion is that Mr. Sutherland vouchsafes us a glimpse behind the scenes into the marketing and promotion of literary works and into the mechanics of the judging of books for prizes. Even more he illuminates the great John Banville/Ian McEwan (mostly unheard of) debacle in which a negative review of Mr. McEwan's Saturday may have helped clench for Mr. Banville the Man-Booker Prize for The Sea.
If you love books and the stories behind them, this book may be for you.
