Man Booker Prize 2016: US author Paul Beatty wins with The Sellout

Winner: Luke Ellis and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall present shortlisted author Paul Beatty with a copy of his book 'The Sellout ' at the Man Booker Prize
Reuters
Jamie Bullen25 October 2016

US author Paul Beatty has become the first American winner of the Man Booker Prize for his satricial novel The Sellout.

His book, which is set in LA and includes the fallout of the unjust shooting of an African-American at the hands of the police, was described by judges as a "novel of our times".

The judges added it "takes aim at racial and political taboos with wit, verve and a snarl".

Announcing the win, chair of judges Amanda Foreman, said: "The Sellout is one of those very rare books that is able to take satire, which is in itself a very difficult subject and not always done well, and it plunges into the heart of contemporary American society and, with absolutely savage wit, of the kind I haven't seen since Swift or Twain, both manages to eviscerate every social taboo and politically correct, nuanced, every sacred cow, and while both making us laugh, making us wince.

Ceremony: From left to right, Luke Ellis, Winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize for his novel 'The Sellout', Paul Beatty, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Dr Amanda Foreman
John Phillips - WPA Pool/Getty Images

"It is both funny and painful at the same time and it is really a novel of our times.

"This is a book that nails the reader to the cross with cheerful abandon but that is why the novel works because while you're being nailed you're being tickled."

The 54-year-old, who teaches at Columbia University, became the first author from across the Atlantic to scoop the £50,000 prize after he was crowned the winner at a ceremony in Guildhall.

Published by independent publishers Oneworld - who also won in 2015 with Marlon James' A Brief History of Seven Killings in - The Sellout was also handed the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Speaking to the Paris Review, he said he was "surprised" the book was described as a comic novel. He said: "I'm not sure how I define it."

Books to read in 2016

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The Sellout is Mr Beatty's fourth novel following on from Slumberland, Tuff, and his 1996 debut The White Boy Shuffle which explores gang culture in LA.

He has also published two books of poetry, Big Bank Take Little Bank and Joker, Joker, Deuce and in 2006 edited an anthology of African-American Humour - Hokum.

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