Slog

John Sutherland, who famously swore that he would curry and eat his copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Enchantress of Florence if it did not win this year’s Booker Prize, is going back on his pledge. The book was not even shortlisted. He says:

Particularly interesting for me, I should add, since I vowed - publicly - to curry and eat my proof copy of The Enchantress of Florence if it didn’t win. It won’t. And I won’t. So there.

I might manage a custard pie on October 10, though.

You will note that I have not vowed to consume any books in my tenure as The Stranger’s books editor. This is why.

For those interested, this year’s Booker shortlist is as follows:

Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger

Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture

Amtiv Ghosh, Sea of Poppies

Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs

Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency

Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole

I’m a little ashamed to admit I haven’t read any of these, although I love Amitav Ghosh and I like Sebastian Barry. In my defense, many of them aren’t available over here yet.