The Man Booker long list is out.

 
Author Julian Barnes, 2011 Booker nominee for his The Sense of an Ending. (publisher handout)

The 2011 Man Booker Prize longlist is out: 13 nominees, only one previous winner (Alan Hollinghurst), four first-time novelists, and perhaps too many small presses and Canadians (!) So muse the New Yorker's Book Bench and some Tweeters ("Oh dear, Canadian writers ruining everything! MT" " Monster anglophile fail"). Mind you, the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph applauds "the bravest" Booker longlist ever.

As you know, the winner is awarded 50,000 pounds and explosive book sales. Candidates are from Commonwealth countries, Republic of Ireland, and Zimbawbe. (The former Rhodesia, if you're wondering why not Kazakhstan and Chile). The six-title shortlist is out in September, and the winner is announced October 18.

The nominees (we'll start with the three Canucks, since folks have made an issue of it):

 
1. Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers

 
2. Esi Edugyan, Half Blood Blues

 
3. Alison Pick, Far to Go

4. Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

5. Sebastian Barry, On Canaan's Side

6. Carol Birch, Jamrach's Menagerie

 
7. Yvette Edwards, A Cupboard Full of Coats

8. Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger's Child

 
9. Stephen Kelman, Pigeon English

10. Patrick McGuinness, The Last Hundred Days

 
11. AD Miller, Snowdrops

12. Jane Rogers, The Testament of Jessie Lamb

 
13. DJ Taylor, Derby Day

See reviews of the nominated books at Omnivore and The New Yorker.