That was almost a nice book prize you had there

You know what I’ve been enjoying lately? On top of more perennial pleasures like good books, fine wines and high fives, I’ve been enjoying the Tournament of Books, an engaging idea for a literary prize, in which sixteen books are paired off one against the other in literary death match until, finally, one book is victorious. A different judge for each pairing has to decide which book progresses to the next round and which is taken around the back of the shed and given the epilogue it deserves.

It’s a fantastic idea because it takes what’s ridiculous about all literary prizes – the attempt to compare entirely dissimilar novels, the pretence that a prize jury can authoritatively pronounce on something so subjective – and turns it all into a spectacle. And by not taking itself too seriously (the original thinking behind the tournament included a plan to award a live rooster to the winner) it lets the good things about literary prizes – that they draw attention to books and provoke discussion about their merits – run free. Instead of coming across as stuffy or elitist it encourages transparency (the judges discuss their reasoning and disclose any connections to competing authors), disagreement (a vote gauges the popularity of each decision) and gambling.

Or I was enjoying following it. It was fun. Then, just now, while I was writing this blog post, Joshua Ferris’ excellent, funny debut Then We Came to the End (you can read the start here) was put out of the running one round short of the final.

Why Tournament of Books? Why? Was it Ferris’s brilliant characterisation, both deeply compassionate and fiercely scathing, or the passages of inspired comedy that put you off? But then, I guess you’re not interested in comedy when you dismiss a book ‘incredibly funny’ (Newsday), ‘savagely funny’ (Observer) and ‘hilarious’ (The New York Times Book Review). I guess perhaps the finest, most sympathetic depiction of life in the modern office just wasn’t your thing? Being ‘that rare novel that feels absolutely contemporary, and that rare comedy that feels blisteringly urgent’ (Time) not good enough for you?

I’m disappointed, Tournament of Books, very disappointed.

Alan
Copywriter

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Comments

[Katie]

I haven't read Then We Came to the End yet, but it faced some pretty stiff competition. I bought it, started thinking it was terrible about 20 pages in, and then it Blew My Mind. Well worth a read if you haven't already.

[Alan]

I was trying not to let the fact I haven't read Remainder quell my anger. Actually, I just looked at the ruling where Remainder was originally chucked out of competition (it got voted back in later) and, even though it starts by saying, 'It’s memorable, in the way that botched surgery ... is memorable' by the time it started describing what the book was about I really wanted to read it. Curses.

[Scott Marlowe]

Sounds like a tv show in the making: "Literary Idol".

[Dafyd]

Drat. I was betting (http://coudal.com/makingbook.php) on Ferris to win...

[jmfausti]

I don't know what could have possibly gone up against 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' and won. I don't think anything else had a chance. I liked this crop of books in total better than last years competitors. Ferris' book was great, it's just that this year's winner overshadowed everything in its path.