Finalist
- Finalist
3m at 1morechapter.com — of the 21 entries, she was the only one to pick Olive Kitteridge as the winner, although even she admitted on her entry that A Mercy had a better shot. Well done, 3m.
The only other mention of Elizabeth Strout’s book was from dovegreyreader who picked it as a finalist (she wanted to pick it first, but, without in any way criticizing DGR, she wants to pick a lot of books first — :)). I can’t help but observe that these very popular bloggers actually know their stuff — if you don’t know them, do check them out. (DGR also picked The Plague of Doves as a finalist, but alas missed the winner). And I will offer an Orange Prize prediction (with no prize) eventually — all three of these Pulitzer finalists are women writers.
Actually, we should also feel sorry for Mr. Benchly ( who has my favorite, formal name on the blog). His book club was cheering for Olive Kitteridge but he didn’t include it on his entry. Shame on your Mr. Benchly and please don’t confess to your bookclub.
A number of entries picked The Plague of Doves, but alas they all fell short by a whisker. Scott was right in predicting a left-field finalist choice — All Souls was on no one’s entry and does look interesting– but his guess was wrong.
Thanks to everyone for entering — it was fun. So much fun, that I promise toward the last half of May I will have an IMPAC Dublin contest. In one sense, this is easier — since we know the eight finalists. In another, it is more difficult — the finalists come from all over the world, originally published in three languages and all with a history. Please do drop by and make an entry when I have figured out the contest. It should be every bit as interesting as this one
3m could you send me an email address at kevin (at) belvedere1 (dot) com and we will figure out how to get you your prize. I will admit up front that I think you should invest your $75 (and I will top it up to cover shipping charges) in an exploration of Canadian fiction at chapters.ca, but that is your choice.
Thanks to everyone else for entering. As indicated above, for serious readers this was just a preliminary bout for the IMPAC contest. Will
Rycroft and 3m may be defending champions, but, let’s face it, they won their trial in very slow heats.
Cheers,
Kevin
KevinfromCanada 
April 20, 2009 at 8:42 pm |
Congrats 3M!
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April 20, 2009 at 9:03 pm |
Thank you, Trevor.
Woo hoo! I’m so excited that I guessed the winner, and even more happy for Elizabeth Strout that Olive Kitteridge won.
Thanks so much, Kevin, for the contest, and I look forward to participating in the IMPAC contest as well. (I’ll get my info to you in a bit)
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April 20, 2009 at 9:04 pm |
Congrats to 3m, I feel like fraud, it was all guesswork which gives me food for thought for this year’s Booker, why read them and choose the loser every single time when I could guess instead and perhaps not lose my £10 bet?
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April 20, 2009 at 9:05 pm |
PS I already want Burnt Shadows for the Orange and that’s even before the shortlist is announced tomorrow, fatal to its chances really!
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April 20, 2009 at 9:12 pm |
Okay, what th4e two of you regard as an ill-informed guess is incredibly well-researched thoughts by most other standards, including my own. So I am not suprised that 3m won, but I have nothing but admiration for her for choosing the book.
As for the Orange (it would be wrong for a male to organize a contest on the Orange), I too am cheering for Burnt Shadows which I thought was excellent — hope it marches up the ManBooker line too. My second choice is probably The Lost Dog, but I think I am in a minority on that one.
I’m trying to think of a way to make an IMPAC contest do more than just pick the name of a book — and have a few weeks yet to figure that out. We shall see — thanks to both of you for taking part and congrats again, 3m, on taking a risk and wnning. I do bet sports occasionally and there is nothing like seeing one of these longshots canter homje (I think they even do that at Exeter, but I might be wrong.)
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April 20, 2009 at 9:15 pm |
Kevin I’ll be posting my Orange shortlist hopefuls tomorrow. I also think we’re going to see Wolf Hall the new Hilary Mantel on the prizelists in the coming year.
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April 20, 2009 at 9:21 pm |
As I read Olive Kitteridge last year, I was reminded a bit of The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields, a book I also loved that won the Pulitzer. That’s primarily why I chose it. I loved Olive, and I figured it was time for a character like her to win.
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April 22, 2009 at 2:45 am |
3m has already spent her winnings — two copies of Alias Grace for her book club (a very nice thought), one each of Lady Oracle and Book of Negroes and The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Kafka on the Shore and Varieties of Disturbance. If she got all that for $75 she is a better shopper than I am.
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April 22, 2009 at 3:43 pm |
Congratulations 3m! And thank you Kevin for making the Pulitzer announcements a little more interesting.
I look forward to the IMPAC contest!
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April 22, 2009 at 8:09 pm |
Thanks, Kerry. I’m still trying to figure out how to make the IMPAC contest more than just pick a book — and I still have four books to read on the shortlist. Do stay tuned, I’ll figure something out eventually.
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April 28, 2009 at 6:03 am |
[…] won! I won! Kevin from Canada held a contest for guessing the Pulitzer winner, and I was the only one to correctly guess Olive Kitteridge. My […]
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