Bookmakers divided over Booker list

28.07.10 | Catherine Neilanin The Bookseller 

Bookmakers are split over who is top dog from this year's Man Booker longlist, with two betting agencies offering entirely different odds for the list of authors announced yesterday afternoon.

According to William Hill, Andrea Levy is favourite for her The Long Song (Headline), which is currently at 4/1 odds. But Ladbrokes has two-time winner Peter Carey as current favourite, with odds of 3/1 for Parrott and Olivier in America (Faber).
“This is one of the hardest longlists that we have had to price up, but the early stand out is Andrea Levy and it will be very interesting to see who the money comes in for,” said William Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Ladbrokes spokesman Nick Weinberg added: “It’s a high quality field, but Peter Carey’s previous successes means that he’s the one to beat.”
Ladbrokes places Levy as eighth most likely to win the prize, with odds of 12/1, while William Hill has Carey at fifth place, with 7/1.
William Hill puts David Mitchell in second place for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Sceptre), while he is fourth at Ladbrokes. Mitchell has never won the Booker, although he has been twice shortlisted in the past.

 William Hill odds - to win Man Booker Prize:

4/1 Andrea Levy - The Long Song

9/2 David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

5/1 Helen Dunmore - The Betrayal

6/1 Rose Tremain - Trespass

7/1 Peter Carey - Parrott and Olivier in America

8/1 Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question

8/1 Paul Murray - Skippy Dies

12/1 Emma Donoghue - Room

12/1 Tom McCarthy - C

12/1 Alan Warner - The Stars in the Bright Sky

16/1 Damon Galgut - In a Strange Room

16/1 Lisa Moore - February

16/1 Christos Tsiolkas - The Slap

Ladbroke odds

3/1 Peter Carey - Parrot and Oliver in America  

4/1 Emma Donoghue - Room

5/1 Tom McCarthy -  C       

6/1 David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

8/1 Damon Galgut - In a Strange Room 

9/1 Rose Tremain  -  Trespass

10/1 Helen Dunmore - The Betrayal

12/1 Andrea Levy - The Long Song

12/1 Christos Tsiolkas - The Slap  

14/1 Alan Warner - The Stars in the Bright Sky

14/1 Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question 

16/1 Lisa Moore - February

16/1 Paul Murray - Skippy Dies