Booker long list is out

The puff of smoke has emerged from the locked room and the long list of Booker Prize contenders is out. Happily, both of my own choices for the prize are present, David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty. Neither of these is a big surprise, and the Guardian seems to be behind them as well. My unfamiliarity with most of the entries each year makes this a contest I watch not for the horserace itself, but for the pleasure of watching such passion exhibited over a choice of novels. I can only long for a situation here in the states where the press and at least part of the public picks up the flag for their favorite and shows such enthusiasm or digust over a simple literature award.