'Line of Beauty' Takes Man Booker

by Steven Zeitchik and Amanda-Jane Doran -- Publishers Weekly, 10/25/2004

Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty from Picador has won the Man Booker in England, beating the odds of bookies and the chattering class alike. The Guardian describes Beauty as a "novel of gay love in the Thatcherite '80s." Hollinghurst was running behind more favored titles—Colm Toibin's The Master; David Mitchell's Cloud Nine—before going on to take the bicontinental coup. Hollinghurst was shortlisted 10 years ago for The Folding Star, his second novel, but his graphic depiction of gay sex met with less appreciation.

The win is also a coup for Bloomsbury USA. The house had a small number in print, about 15,000, most of which has already been sold. Editorial director Karen Rinaldi said the house has ordered a new printing of 35,000, and Bloomsbury expects books to be available within a week. Rinaldi admitted it's been a delicate few weeks. "We were basically trying not to think about [the odds]," she said. "It seems every year is always a surprise."

Hollinghurst, described as "gracious but stunned" in his acceptance speech, is teaching at Princeton this fall; Bloomsbury said it's going to gauge demand for author appearances.