On Thursday, Oct. 9th the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced. If you have been listening to the news you know that this will not be an American--for more on that read Charles McGrath's article in the New York Times. Anyhow, what I didn't know is that you can actually bet on who you think is going to win. Is there anything that you can't bet on these days? I am not much of a gambler and so perhaps I am showing my naivete, but I find this bizarre. What do you think? Apparently there are 4 to 1 odds on the Syrian poet Adonis. If you hear of any hot tips let me know.
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Do Libraries have bookies?
ReplyDeleteThe winner is Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio of France! Shamefully, I have never heard of him nor does our library have any of his books.
ReplyDeleteThe Nobel Committee called Le Clezio an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstacy." I found out that he's written several dozen novels and essays, mainly on themes of nomads, the desert, and mythology of Native Americans. The Committee's Permanent Secretary told the AP that the US is too insular and ignorant to challenge Europe as the center of the literary world. Ironically, Le Clezio has lived in New Mexico in recent years. The last American winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature was Toni Morrison in 1993.