Following the praise of Vestal McIntyre, Steven Amsterdam, and A.S. Byatt -- all of whom named A Life Apart the best novel of the year -- the judges of The Times of London/ South Bank Sky Arts Breakthrough Award have chosen Neel Mukherjee as the only nominee in literature. Good show for a gay novel about an illegal alien from Calcutta in London, by way of an Oxford scholarship and King's Cross hustling. In Thebes poll, Vestal noted the protagonist ultimately secures "a position as a live-in nurse for a woman in her nineties. Ritwik's relationship with woman, the brilliantly depicted Anne Cameron, gives rise to some of the most tender and genuinely moving scenes I've read in recent years."
Neel's competition for the Breakthrough award are the pop band Everything Everything, dancer Brian Maloney, tv actress Michelle Dockery, stage actor Andrew Scott, conductor Nicholas Collon, doc filmmaker Clio Barnard, opera soprano Pumeza Matshikiza, comedian Gregg Davies, and installation artist Simon Fujiwara. Obviously your heart, mind, and vote are with the gay book. Click here before midnight [UK time!] January 12.
Although the printed book is not available in the U.S. [Kindle only], someone's bear cache in Alaska boasted a hardcover this morning. Amazing.
Pretty Subtle. You have to look pretty hard to see the title!
Posted by: D | January 07, 2011 at 07:15 PM