The Man Booker International Prize Longlist is out!
The Book Office is delighted to hear that Laurent Binet's The 7th Function of Language (translated by Sam Taylor for Harvill Secker) and Virginie Despentes's Vernon Subutex 1 (translated by Frank Wynne for MacLehose Press) are both longlisted for the Man Booker InternationalPrize! Congratulations to them and to the 11 other authors who have been selected today, and two cheers for Grasset!
The 7th Function of Language Laurent Binet Translated by Sam Taylor Published by Harvill Secker
Roland Barthes is knocked down in a Paris street by a laundry van. It’s February 1980 and he has just come from lunch with François Mitterrand, a slippery politician locked in a battle for the Presidency. Barthes dies soon afterwards. History tells us it was an accident. But what if it were an assassination? What if Barthes was carrying a document of unbelievable, global importance? A document explaining the seventh function of language – an idea so powerful it gives whoever masters it the ability to convince anyone, in any situation, to do anything.
Laurent Binet was born in Paris, France, in July 1972. His first novel, HHhH, was an international bestseller. It won the prestigious Prix Goncourt for a first novel and was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year. Binet won the Prix de la FNAC and Prix Interallié for The 7th Function of Language.
Sam Taylor was born in Nottinghamshire, UK, in 1970. He began his career as a journalist with The Observer. In 2001, he quit his job and moved to southwest France, where he wrote four novels, learned French, and raised a family. In 2010, he translated his first novel: Laurent Binet's HHhH. He now lives in the United States and works as a literary translator and author.
Vernon Subutex 1 Virginie Despentes Translated by Frank Wynne Published by MacLehose Press
Vernon Subutex was once the proprietor of Revolver, an infamous music shop in Bastille. His legend spread throughout Paris. But by the 2000s, with the arrival of the internet and the decline in CDs and vinyl, his shop is struggling. When it closes, Subutex is out on a limb, with no idea what to do next. Nothing sticks. Before long, his savings are gone, his employment benefit is cut, and when the friend who had been covering his rent dies suddenly, Subutex finds himself relying on friends with spare sofas and ultimately alone and out on the Paris streets. But, as he is stretching out his hand to beg from strangers in the street, a throwaway comment he made on Facebook is taking the internet by storm.
Vernon does not realise this, of course. It has been many weeks since he was able to afford access to the internet, but the word is out: Vernon Subutex has in his possession the last filmed recordings of Alex Bleach, famous musician and Vernon’s benefactor, who recently died of a drug overdose. Unbeknownst to Vernon, a crowd of people, from record producers to online trolls and porn stars, are now on his trail.
Virginie Despentes was born in Nancy, France, in June 1969. She is a writer and filmmaker, and former maid, sex worker and freelance rock journalist. Her first novel, Baise-Moi, the controversial rape-revenge story, was published in 1992 and adapted for film in 2000. Upon release it became the first film to be banned in France for 28 years. She is the author of over 15 further works, including Apocalypse Baby (2010) and Bye Bye Blondie (2004) and the autobiographical essay, King Kong Theory (2006).
Frank Wynne was born in County Sligo, Ireland, in April 1962. He is an award-winning translator from French and Spanish. His previous translations include works by Pierre Lemaitre, Patrick Modiano and Michel Houellebecq. He lives in London.
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