Howard Jacobson (right) celebrates his Booker win
British author Howard Jacobson was picked as the surprise winner of this year's(2010) prestigious Booker Prize for literature for his comic novel " The Finkler Question". Jacobson beat the favourite Tom McCarthy to pick up the award and 50,000 pounds (77,000 dollars, 60,000 euros) in prize money for his tale of two old schoolfriends and their teacher with its themes of love, sex and Jewishness.
The winner was chosen from among a shortlist of six authors -- Peter Carey, Emma Donoghue, Damon Galgut, Howard Jacobson, Andrea Levy and Tom McCarthy.
Peter Carey was nominated for "Parrot and Olivier in America" (Faber and Faber) while Emma Donoghue received a nomination for "Room" (Picador- Pan Macmillan). Damon Galgut was chosen for "In a Strange Room" (Atlantic Books - Grove Atlantic).
Novelist Andrea Levy was chosen for "The Long Song" (Headline Review - Headline Publishing Group) while Tom McCarthy was nominated for "C" (Jonathan Cape - Random House).
The Finkler Question, published by Bloomsbury.
Howard Jacobson
Born-25 August 1942 (age 68)
Manchester, England
Occupation-novelist, columnist, broadcaster
Nationality-British
Period -1983–present
Genres -biographical
Subjects-Jewishness, Humour
Notable award(s)-Man Booker Prize (2010)
profile
Jacobson was born in 1942 in Manchester. He was brought up in Prestwich and was educated at Stand Grammar School in Whitefield, before going on to study English at Downing College, Cambridge, under F. R. Leavis. He lectured for three years at the University of Sydney before returning to England to teach at Selwyn College, Cambridge. His later teaching assignments included a stint at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in the 1970s.
Although he has described himself as "a Jewish Jane Austen," he also states, "I'm not by any means