Booker Longlist 2008

Now I am not saying that I actually caused this, but can it really be a complete coincidence that just as I was wondering when the Booker longlist would be released (having finished John Banville's The Sea), I find that it was released today? The list:

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
Girl in a Blue Dress - Gaynor Arnold
The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry
From A to X - John Berger
The Lost Dog - Michelle de Kretser
Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh
The Clothes on Their Backs - Linda Grant
A Case of Exploding Mangoes - Mohammed Hanif
The Northern Clemency - Philip Hensher
Netherland - Joseph O'Neill
The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie
Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz

This list is notably light on the regular "heavyweights," like Carey, McEwan and Coetzee (only Carey actually had a book in contention); Rushdie seems to be carrying the load for the perennials. The shortlist will be announced on September 9, with the winner announced on October 14. I would put good money on Netherland making the shortlist, and decent money on it winning the whole thing.

UPDATE: What do you know, the bookmakers agree.