Fifty thousand pounds dumped into The Sea

Well, the hot news is that my least favorite book of the lot has won the Man Booker prize...

Here's Banville's modest comment:

"It's nice to see a work of art winning the Booker Prize "

...so seems as if its not just his novel that's insufferable.

Just for the record, here are the 35 previous winners, presumably not works of art but works of something else altogether - Satan, perhaps? Cast your eyes down to 1978 and you will note that Banville's book is just on half of Iris Murdoch's winner.

Perhaps I should back my judgment and bet on my least favorite next year? At 7-1 Banville was a rank outsider and would have paid nicely.

'This was a travesty of a result from a travesty of a judging process.'
Boyd Tonkin, The Independent