The Longlist for the 2014 Booker Prize has been announced. This year the prize has been opened up to inhabitants of the rebellious former colonies of North America, as well as citizens of the Commonwealth, presumably as an act of forgiveness by the Booker people for the treasonous behavior of their forebears. The British literary establishment is in something of a tizzy over this, predicting the Death of the Novel, Barbarians at the Gates and the End of Civilization As We Know It. “Whatever next,” said well known critic J.M., “will they be letting in science fiction? Or the French?”

However, one effect of this change to the Booker rules has been the presence of Karen Joy Fowler’s wonderful We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves on the Longlist. You can read my review here, and listen to my interview with Karen here.

David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks is also on the list, despite the fact that it won’t be published until September. I must try to get a copy before his appearance at Mr. B’s.