Maximum Shortlist
Some publishers have lost no time in trumpeting how many books from their stable are on the Commonwealth prize shortlist. Right now, nearly every major publishing house in India has at least one contender, with HarperCollins bagging two: Solo by Rana Dasgupta is in the fight for Best Book award, while Arzee the Dwarf is up for best first book. Random House has In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (for first book), Picador has The Immortals by Amit Chaudhuri (Best Book), while Penguin has For Pepper and Christ by Keki Daruwalla (Best Book). Before we get excited, let’s keep in mind that this sho-rtlist is even longer than Man Asian’s notoriously overstretched longlist. A total of 28 books are up for each of the two prizes, and the “real” shortlist of four finalists for each of the awards we’ll only know on March 1.