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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/22\/books\/booker-prize-shortlist.html?emc=edit_nn_20260923&nl=the-morning&segment_id=226928",
    "parsed_content": "What to ReadFind Your Next BookFantasyScience FictionThrillersRomanceAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTNovels by Marlon James and Douglas Stuart Lead Booker Prize ShortlistIf James wins for \u201cThe Disappearers\u201d or Stuart for \u201cJohn of John,\u201d it would be a rare second win for an author in the history of the prestigious literary award.Listen \u00b7 5:42 min Share full articleThe books on this year\u2019s Booker Prize shortlist.Credit...Yuki Sugiura for Booker Prize FoundationBy Alex MarshallReporting from LondonPublished Sept. 22, 2026Updated Sept. 23, 2026, 8:36 a.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google A 640-page tome about the fallout from a homophobic murder in Jamaica. A science-fiction novel that starts with an alien washed up on the shore. A comedy about a campus social experiment in which an actor wears only a black bag to class.All three of those books are among the six shortlisted for this year\u2019s Booker Prize, whose nominees were announced on Tuesday.The highest-profile titles are Marlon James\u2019s \u201cThe Disappearers,\u201d the tale set in Jamaica that Dwight Garner, in a recent review for The New York Times, called \u201cthe novel of the decade,\u201d and Douglas Stuart\u2019s \u201cJohn of John,\u201d about a young gay man\u2019s fraught return home.The authors are both past Booker winners, and if either of them triumphs this year, it would be only the fifth time a writer has won the prize twice.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe other nominees include Elizabeth Strout\u2019s \u201cThe Things We Never Say,\u201d about a depressed teacher; M. John Harrison\u2019s \u201cThe End of Everything,\u201d set in a dystopian Britain and involving aliens and beach scavengers; Luke Kennard\u2019s \u201cBlack Bag,\u201d inspired by a 1960s experiment at Oregon State University; and Rebecca Perry\u2019s \u201cMay We Feed the King,\u201d an innovative historical debut.Although the shortlist contains some of the year\u2019s most critically acclaimed novels, Mary Beard, the chair of the judging panel, said in a telephone interview that literary reputations hadn\u2019t influenced the judges\u2019 choices. The six titles, chosen after four hours of deliberation, all \u201cshare the capacity to make you look at the world in a different way,\u201d Beard said.They also, she added, all \u201cgrab you by the neck, some with very gentle tweaks, some a bit more in your face.\u201dThe Booker, which was first awarded in 1969, is given each year to a book written in English and published in Britain or Ireland. The author of the winning title will receive 50,000 pounds, about $66,700. The judges will announce their choice on Nov. 9 during an event in London.Here is more on the shortlisted titles.The End of Everythingby M. John HarrisonHarrison, 81, could become the oldest-ever winner of the Booker if he triumphs for his 13th novel, the main character of which is a scavenger who finds an alien on a beach. British critics have called Harrison \u201cthe best writer you\u2019ve never heard of\u201d for titles that jump between genres. This year\u2019s Booker judges hinted at that variety, saying in a news release about the shortlist that Harrison\u2019s latest \u201ccan be read as a thriller, a mystery, a satire, a dystopia, a road novel, a work of realism.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe End of Everything Save to your reading list:Want to readHave readThe Disappearersby Marlon JamesJames won the 2015 Booker Prize for the epic \u201cA Brief History of Seven Killings,\u201d and his sixth novel is a similarly lengthy story of the fallout from a deadly homophobic attack in Jamaica. James said in a recent interview with The Times that its unflinching depictions of sex and violence were deliberate. \u201cI don\u2019t go to novels to be safe,\u201d he said: \u201cI go to novels to be titillated, to be scared, to be educated, to be frightened \u2014 honestly, to be appalled.\u201d Read Garner\u2019s review.The Disappearers Save to your reading list:Want to readHave readBlack Bagby Luke KennardIn Kennard\u2019s book, a professor hires a failing actor to attend classes concealed inside a black bag, and those performances go in increasingly absurd directions. Johanna Thomas-Corr in The Times of London said that beneath the book\u2019s playfulness \u201clies a thoughtful, tender meditation on the difficulty of being a man in the modern world.\u201dBlack Bag Save to your reading list:Want to readHave readAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMay We Feed the Kingby Rebecca PerryThe only debut novel among the nominees, Perry\u2019s title began as two short stories \u2014 one about a woman who recreates historical scenes with food, and another about an attendant to a dying king \u2014 until she realized she could bring the two tales together in a narrative that swerves between past and present. A major British bookseller has already given it a \u201cbest debut\u201d award.May We Feed the King Save to your reading list:Want to readHave readThe Things We Never Sayby Elizabeth StroutSet around the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, Strout\u2019s novel is about a high school history teacher who considers suicide before a sailing accident and the revelation of a long-buried family secret upend his life. Maggie Shipstead in The New York Times said that reading the book was a pleasure, even with occasionally clunky references to recent political events. Read Shipstead\u2019s full review.The Things We Never Say Save to your reading list:Want to readHave readJohn of Johnby Douglas StuartStuart won the 2020 Booker Prize for his debut, \u201cShuggie Bain.\u201d His third novel tells the story of Cal, a 22-year-old gay man returning home to live with his angry father on a remote Scottish island. Mark Harris, in The Times, said that Stuart was \u201cnot particularly interested in telling either a coming-home or a coming-of-age story,\u201d as readers might expect from the plot summary. Instead, Stuart \u201cuses that architecture to build something different, stranger and far more original.\u201d Read Harris\u2019s review.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTJohn of John Save to your reading list:Want to readHave readFrom the commentsAlex MarshallEuropean culture reporterSome Booker shortlists befuddle readers because they\u2019re filled with debuts, yet to be released novels or previously unheralded titles, but two of this year\u2019s six are arguably the highest profile books of the year, so this should be one every reader can have an opinion on.LLinpinArkansas@Alex Marshall John of John is likely may favorite book of the year. I read it and then listened to it and want to start all over again. Absolutely beautiful writing, wonderful story, complicated and flawed characters that you feel like you know.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
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    "author_name": "Alex Marshall",
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    "ai_headline": "Novels by Marlon James and Douglas Stuart Lead Booker Prize Shortlist",
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    "ai_excerpt": "Marlon James's \"The Disappearers\" and Douglas Stuart's \"John of John\" are among the six books shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize. Both authors are past winners, and a second win would be a rare achievement for the prestigious literary award.",
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