To more accurately sum things up: The ToB is a single-elimination tournament with sixteen (well, okay, this year, seventeen) initial slots. Books are matched up against each other, and a celebrity judge reads both and decides which book they like better, and writes a summary article of their decision. That book advances to face the winner of the adjacent bracket, and so on, till there is uno champion del mundo!
Winner gets a live Rooster, as the legends have it.
Without knowing the first-round matchups, and having read only four of the books (sad shamey-face) I can only give vague impressions on relative odds.
First, it looks like the selectors have done more to get some diversity into the field this year. Last year's list, while full of wonderful books, was surprisingly beige. It's nice to see that every inhabited continent has contributed to this year's carnage.
There were several notable snubs this year: George Saunders, Meg Wolitzer, Khaled Hosseini, and Rachel Kushner, for instance, all wrote fantastic books, but without expanding the field and taxing everyone's patience, these folk will just have to settle for massive sales and great critical acclaim to keep them warm at night.
Judges this year include and eclectic mix of authors, critics, a musician, and a guest chosen from the ranks of talented hangers-on and fankids. Among them are Young Adult hearthrob novelist (and last year's runner-up author) John Green, the amazingly funny and talented Roxane Gay, the legendary Geraldine Brooks. I'm expecting good things from all these people.
Overall, I think these are all good books and would love to read every page of them, but only one can survive. I didn't link to anything because you're probably smart enough to highlight, right-click, and choose search on Google and also, I'm lazy.
* indicates books I've read
At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón - A relative unknown though critical darling, this looks at first glance like yet another dark South American farce, this one with a guerilla theater troupe, though to be fair, those are usually pretty good, and the people who like them really like them. I'm guessing there are weaker books in the field, but if matched up against a heavyweight it's a first-round adios.
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - One of the heavyweights, this book carries its Man Booker award pedigree and "Concept novel" gravitas into the ring. Like Roostarian winners Cloud Atlas and A Visit from the Goon Squad, concept novel isn't necessarily a bad thing. But one rap on The Luminaries is that it's a writer's book, not necessarily a mainstream reader's book, so which judge it gets will be critical. Gravitas gets it past the first round, then its a crapshoot.
The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto - This is another sleeper from Africa about an isolated tribe contacting the modern world. A wise and knowing insight into a foreign culture, this book will gain respect for being exotic, even if it may not have the pedigrees of other entrees. A true wild card, though probably not a contender.
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert - Will the author of Eat, Pray, Love be able to overcome her backlash and find redemption in the the Rooster tourney? By all accounts this is about as far from EPL as a book can get. On the minues side, it's also a doorstoppy idea book. Maybe it has enough punch for the semi-finals, but I doubt it.
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid - An old-school political book, a second-person novel about making money in Pakistan. Satires play well with some but not others, though with the right pairing, say against an acerbic domestic drama, Hamid could score a moderate run.
The Dinner by Herman Koch - A divisive book about European scandals and privilege that takes place over a dinner table in Amsterdam. Reviews were mixed, though marketing made it a sales success; The same way it hit bookstores with a storm of publicity then didn't sell or get decent reviews, Dinner will flame out of the the ToB in the first round when faced with more lively books.
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri - Another awards winner with the gravitas and popular appeal that will threaten to go deep.
* Long Division by Kiese Laymon - A dark horse in a field of dark horses, this is another high-concept book about time travel, race, and viral YouTube meltdowns. I love the idea, and halfway through I'm finding it funny, endearing, baffling, and charming by turns. But in the ToB, high-concept only gets you so far; this feels like a first-round upset but not much further.
* The Good Lord Bird by James McBride - Pulitzer Prize winner, a race-and history based romp, this is a strong contender for the final four. See my review on this site for more information.
Hill William by Scott McClanahan - Surprisingly, this has the highest Goodreads rating at 4.24, which bodes well (although it has only 369 readers; surely a wider readership would drop that total?).** This feels like the sleeper pick, much like The Sisters Brothers was a few years ago.
The Son by Philipp Meyer - I read Meyer's debut novel, and if this is anything like that the density of his prose will render one judge comatose, booting him in the second round.
* A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki - I actually read this book! It's a great book with great themes and characters. Ozeki is a dark horse with a chance to win the whole thing. Unfortunately, the final chapter employs a deus ex hand-wavy metaphysical meta-narrative which may sink her in the round of four, due to some judges insistence on literal believability in all things fiction.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - YA books are always a dark horse; they tend to hit hard emotionally but don't hold up on reflection, much like your own teenage years perhaps. Probably a first or second round exit, though it could return in the zombie round, as its Goodreads rating tops this field at 4.22.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - The perfect combination of literary gravitas and popular appeal, The Goldfinch rode a tidal surf of buzz to best-seller status and squee-ing fan-boys and girls. The Goldfinch is my pre-tournament favorite, as even if it's bounced, it will probably be a zombie pick. It's only drawback is that it's really long and people get turned off by long.
The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara - I'm not sure how I feel about a book that features lost Micronesian tribes and magic turtle meat. Guess we'll find out. I feel this has very low odds of winning, but maybe there's more magic in that turtle meat than I think.
[Winner of the Pre-Tournament Playoff Round]
Play-In:
For the past two years, the sixteenth spot has been fought over by a surplus of books. Last year three war novels fought their way through; this year I can't sense a theme, so I don't get it. It's two books by women authors, one a seasoned vet, the other a relative newcomer.
* Life After Life by Kate Atkinson - Ambitious, funny, idea-packed, Life After Life is also a gimmick book, and some judges will be shut down by gimmicks. In a fair world, Life After Life would make a deep run. Although if it gets booted, it may just employ its own narrative trick and re-birth the whole bracket from the beginning until it does win.
Woke Up Lonely by Fiona Maazel - The lowest rated book on Goodreads with a shockingly low 2.84, little is known of this upstart, who will face a stiff challenge from the compulsively readable Life after Life.
The Rooster crows in March!
Here's my compilation bookshelf on Goodreads.
** Goodreads ratings are a moving target. Two days later, Hill William had been added to 467 readers, and it's rating had dropped to 4.11. As of Jan 26, Eleanor and Park had the highest GoodReads rating at 4.22, and Hill William had dropped to third.
No comments:
Post a Comment