Making Creator Headlines · Page 3
Apocalypse Finds an Unexpectedly Cheerful Awards Season
· New York time
M. John Harrison has won the Booker Prize for The End of Everything, becoming the oldest winner of the literary award at 81. The post-apocalyptic novel brings a story about endings into the distinctly upbeat business of announcing a winner. The Booker can introduce a book to readers who might not otherwise encounter it. The BBC described Harrison's novel as baffling but brilliant, a combination that suggests readers should bring curiosity rather than expect an instruction manual. A major literary award does not make a challenging book simpler, but it can make the invitation to try it considerably louder. Harrison's win also complicates the idea that artistic recognition must arrive on a tidy schedule. Publishing often celebrates discovery as if it were a race to identify the newest possible voice. An 81-year-old winner is a reminder that a career can continue producing surprises well beyond the age at which trend reports begin looking elsewhere. And there is something fitting about a novel with such a final title receiving a fresh wave of attention. A prize creates new conversations, new reading lists and new opportunities to argue about what a book means. The end of everything, it turns out, can also be the beginning of a very busy reading season.
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