Cloud Atlas and The Master Among Booker Finalists

Selected from a group of 22 semi-finalists, six authors were recently shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. The annual prize is given for the best novel published in the current year and is open to writers from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the British Commonwealth. Each shortlisted writer will receive £2,500 (approximately $4,000). The winner, to be announced on October 19, receives £50,000 (approximately $80,000).

The Man Booker Prize Shortlist:
Achmat Dangor, Bitter Fruit (Atlantic Books)
Sarah Hall, The Electric Michelangelo (Faber & Faber)
Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty (Picador)
David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas (Sceptre)
Colm Tóibín, The Master (Picador)
Gerard Woodward, I'll Go to Bed at Noon (Chatto & Windus)