Ghosh, Adiga or Someone Else?

A day after the six finalists for the Man Booker prize for fiction 2008 were announced, bookmakers were split on the odds-on favourite.

A day after the six finalists for the Man Booker prize for fiction 2008 were announced, bookmakers were split on the odds-on favourite. The exclusion of Salman Rushdie, the overwhelming long-list favourite, appears to have opened the race up wide. Michael Portillo, who chairs the judging panel, said all six books were 8220;intensely readable8221;, and all were 8220;both ambitious and approachable.8221;The Odds

8226;Ladbrokes installed debutant Indian Aravind Adiga as the 15-8 favourite with the other first-timer Steve Toltz as the 7-1 outsider

8226; William Hill8217;s list was topped by Sebastian Barry with 2-1, with Toltz as second joint favourite at 3-1.

8226; Paddy Power priced Amitav Ghosh as 7-4 favourite

The Competitors

Aravind Adiga India for The White Tiger, the story of a man8217;s dreams of escaping poor village life for success in the big city.

Steve Toltz Australia for A Fraction of the Whole, the story of the relationship between a father and a son.

Sebastian Barry Ireland for The Secret Scripture, the story of a woman growing up in Sligo in the 1930s.

Amitav Ghosh India for Sea of Poppies, set on an old slave ship before the Opium Wars.

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Linda Grant England for The Clothes on Their Backs, a book about the psychology of clothes.

Philip Hensher England for The Northern Clemency, which follows the lives of two English families in a changing social landscape.

The Prize

The Man Booker, among literature8217;s most prestigious prizes, offers 50,000 pounds 88,700 to the winner. It was founded as the Booker Prize in 1969, and was renamed when the financial services conglomerate Man Group PLC began sponsoring it five years ago. This year8217;s winner will be announced on October 14. Novels written in English by writers from Britain, Ireland or the Commonwealth are eligible.

The controversy

The omission from the 13-book long list of Sir Salman Rushdie8217;s Enchantress of Florence. In July, Rushdie won the Best of the Booker prize for his Midnight8217;s Children, which won in 1981.