Here are the bookies’ odds for the 2020 Booker Prize.
Apparently, this week is the Super Bowl for the book world (or at least the book world media). Which means you need to do two things to prepare: assemble your snacks (check) and place your bets.
Six novels are up for the Booker Prize, the biggest literary prize in the UK, which comes complete with a £50,000 purse, lots of bragging rights, and (usually) even more book sales. But who should you put your money on? As usual, I consulted the very elegantly named website NicerOdds, which compiles odds from various betting sites, including Ladbrokes, to find out.
As of this writing, NicerOdds is showing the following odds for the Booker Prize shortlisters.
Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain : 3 to 1
Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King : 4 to 1
Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body : 5 to 1
Brandon Taylor, Real Life : 6 to 1
Diane Cook, The New Wilderness : 8 to 1
Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar : 12 to 1
But hey, this is a literary prize, so you can never really tell. That’s the fun/horror of subjective art! The winner will be announced on Thursday in a ceremony (featuring Barack Obama!) beginning at 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.
