Philip Roth Wins Man Booker, Dissenting Judge Quits in Protest

Posted on May 19, 2011

Author Philip Roth was named the winner of the fourth annual Man Booker International Prize at a press conference at the Sydney Opera House. He was chosen from a list of 13 contenders. Roth will receive the 60,000 pound prize money, which is about $97,400 U.S.

The Telegraph reports that Carmen Callil, one of three judges, was unhappy Roth won and resigned in protest. Callil said, "He goes on and on and on about the same subject in almost every single book. It's as though he's sitting on your face and you can't breathe."

Rick Gekoski, chair of the judging panel, said in a statment, "For more than 50 years Philip Roth's books have stimulated, provoked and amused an enormous, and still expanding, audience. His imagination has not only recast our idea of Jewish identity, it has also reanimated fiction, and not just American fiction, generally. His career is remarkable in that he starts at such a high level, and keeps getting better. In his 50s and 60s, when most novelists are in decline, he wrote a string of novels of the highest, enduring quality. Indeed, his most recent, Nemesis (2010), is as fresh, memorable, and alive with feeling as anything he has written. His is an astonishing achievement."

Philip Roth shared an acceptance message on YouTube. Take a look: