Paul Betty became the first American writer to win the Man Booker Prize for the Sellout, a stinging satire on US racial politics that judges drawn comparison to Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift.
Historian Amanda Forman, who chaired this year’s judging panel, called it a “novel for our times”, particularly in the context of Black Lives Matter.
“The book plunges into the heart of contemporary American society, and with absolutely savage wit the kind I haven’t seen since (Jonathan) Swift or (Mark) Twain.” said Foreman.
The Sellout is set in A Los Angeles suburb called Dickens. Bonbon, the Afro-American narrator, is the main character in the story who wants to assert his identity by bringing back slavery and racial segregation.
Betty admitted that the book is a hard book both to read and digest which would push the readers out of their comfort zone.
Amanda Foreman called it a novel that eviscerate politically correct nuance. “Fiction should not be comfortable .The truth is rarely pretty and this is a book that nails the reader to the cross with cheerful abandon … that is why the novel works.” she said
Beatty was awarded the 50,000 pound ($61,000) prize by Prince Charles’ wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a black-tie ceremony at London’s medieval Guildhall.
The five judges took almost four hours to choose the winner from the six finalists,chosen from 155 submissions.Foreman said the decision for Betty’s work was unanimous.
Foreman said the criteria used by judges in deciding the winner were: aesthetic, quality and depth of ideas, the craftsmanship of the writing and whether it transported the reader
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The other competitors were Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh (US), Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (Canada), All That Man Is by David Szalay (Canada-UK), His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (UK) and Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (UK).
