And Then There Were Six

The shortlist for the 2014 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was declared on 9th September:

* Joshua Ferris (US) - To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
* Richard Flanagan (Australian) - The Narrow Road to the Deep North
* Karen Joy Fowler (US) - We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
* Howard Jacobson (British) – J
* Neel Mukherjee (British) -The Lives of Others
* Ali Smith (British) - How to be Both

Chair of the 2014 judges, AC Grayling, commented on behalf of the judges:
'As the Man Booker Prize expands its borders, these six exceptional books take the reader on journeys around the world, between the UK, New York, Thailand, Italy, Calcutta and times past, present and future. It is a strong, thought-provoking shortlist which we believe demonstrates the wonderful depth and range of contemporary fiction in English.'
This is the first list to reflect the diversity of the novel in English regardless of the author's nationality, as the Man Booker Prize has opened up to any author writing originally in English and published in the UK. This year's panel has worked through more than 150 novels – in the opinion of the publishers who submit the books: the very best the year has to offer. The judges put a premium on craft and skill and, above all, that indefinable essence that turns these into art.
The judges will now re-read the shortlisted titles in order to select the winner, whose name will be revealed on Tuesday 14 October 2014 at a ceremony at London's Guildhall.

(source: http://www.themanbookerprize.com)