The long and winding list

The longlist of the U.K.'s Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced today, and it contains names both known and unknown on this side of the Atlantic. Ian McEwan is on the list, as is A.N. Wilson. Though not strictly a British award -- citizens of the British Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland are eligible -- the process fascinates the literary classes, and the bookies, in England more than elsewhere.

The longlist contains 13 titles from 110 considered. It will be whittled to six names on Sept. 6 and the winner announced Oct. 16. The winner gets 50,000 pounds -- about $101,000. The list:

"Darkmans," by Nicola Barker
"Self-Help," by Edward Docx
"The Gift of Rain," by Tan Twan
"The Gathering," by Anne Enright
"The Reluctant Fundamentalist," by Mohsin Hamid
"The Welsh Girl," by Peter Ho Davies
"Mister Pip," by Lloyd Jones
"Gifted," by Nikita Lalwani
"On Chesil Beach," by Ian McEwan
"What Was Lost," by Catherine O'Flynn
"Consolation," by Michael Redhill
"Animal's People," by Indra Sinha
"Winnie & Wolf," by A. N. Wilson