The Next Book I'll Read

For more than one reason.

Booker winner Desai credits Bush for award.

Indian novelist Kiran Desai said she may never have won the Booker Prize, one of the world's most prestigious literary awards, had George W. Bush not been U.S. president -- as he put her off becoming an American citizen.

The Man Booker Prize is open only to British and Commonwealth citizens and Indian-born Desai has yet to apply for a U.S. passport, although she has lived in New York for 20 years.

"George Bush won once and he won the second time and I couldn't bring myself to (apply)," Desai said late last month in an interview in Toronto as she voiced her disapproval of the president's foreign policy.

"So I really owe George Bush my Booker, in an odd way. It's really very funny."

Desai, 35, became the youngest woman to capture the 50,000 pound ($95,000) prize last month with her sweeping novel "The Inheritance of Loss." The book's narrative ranges from undocumented workers in New York to political violence in the foothills of the Himalayas during the 1980s.

I'm sold. I've just finished two very good books (On Beauty and The Wonder Spot), and this one looks like it's next. She's 35 and a Booker Prize winner! Gaaaaah!

 

Comments

[dharma]

I, on the other hand in a particularly removed from my Buddhist stance, am not sure I can bring myself to read the book precisely because at 35 she is far younger and more accomplished than I. Hrumph and all that.

[ae]

Agreed, dharma! I mean, the gall. And, like, Zadie Smith. She's a zygote. Harrumph, harrumph. (stomping away, kicking the dirt)

[rescueblues]

I hear amazon is running a special any Kiran Desai book comes with a Dixie Chicks album.