US writers Beatty, Moshfegh up for Man Booker fiction prize

LONDON – A satirical look at race and racism in the United States and a disturbing small-town American character study are among six novels vying for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.

The fiction prize could anoint its first American winner if either Paul Beatty’s “The Sellout” or Ottessa Moshfegh’s “Eileen” takes the prize.

Previously open to writers from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth, the Booker expanded in 2014 to include all English-language authors.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has made Canada’s Madeleine Thien favourite with “Do Not Say We Have Nothing,” the story of two families roiled by China’s tumultuous 20th-century history.

The other contenders are Graeme Macrae Burnet’s “His Bloody Project,” Deborah Levy’s “Hot Milk” and David Szalay’s “All That Man Is.”

The winner of the 50,000-pound ($61,000) prize will be announced Tuesday.