Baltimore Books

Anne Tyler has been nominated for the biennial Man Booker International Prize, given to a living writer every two years for his or her achievement in fiction. Though administered by the same group, this is not the same award as the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, given only to citizens of the United Kingdom or its Commonwealth or Ireland. Dave Rosenthal wrote about this on Read Street; The Baltimore Sun reported here.

There’s a charming English (is that redundant?) custom of betting on who will win literary prizes, the same way people bet on horses. There was even a scandal about betting this past year when Tom McCarthy’s C suddenly garnered more bets than the total placed on any author up to that point. Are bets placed on the outcome of the Man Booker International Prize? If not, there should be. We’re a horse-racing town; we should take the lead on this. At the Preakness on May 21, bettors should be able to place their money on horses or authors. The winner of the International Prize is announced shortly after that, so the timing is perfect. Frank Stronach, Tom Chuckas, are you reading? This could save the track.