Joseph O’Connor’s THE THRILL OF IT ALL has been shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. This prize is given to the book considered to best capture the comic spirit of PG Wodehouse.
The winner will receive a jeroboam of Bollinger Special Cuvée, a case of Bollinger La Grande Année and a set of the Everyman Wodehouse collection which now totals over 90 books. The winner will also be honoured with the presentation of a locally-bred Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, to be named after the winning novel.
In the battle for this porcine prize, O’Connor will be competing with Sebastian Faulks’ bestselling Wodehouse pastiche and Helen Fielding’s third Bridget Jones novel. The shortlist also features the latest works of John Niven, Hanif Kureishi and Edward St. Aubyn.
As is customary, this year's winner will be announced just ahead of The Hay Festival on Monday 19 May. This year’s judges are broadcaster and author James Naughtie; David Campbell, Everyman’s Library publisher; and Peter Florence, director of The Telegraph Hay Festival.
Campbell said: “The shortlist for our 15th prize is one of the strongest we’ve ever had. All the books on the list are of great calibre and quality which makes the job of choosing just one of these witty, zestful novels as the winner almost impossible.”
Spanning 25 years, THE THRILL OF IT ALL rewinds and fast-forwards through an evocative soundtrack of struggle and laughter from Thatcher-led London to the Hollywood bowl. A story of loyalties, friendship, the call of the muse, and the beguiling shimmer of teenage dreams, this is a warm-hearted, funny and deeply moving novel for anyone that’s ever loved a song.
THE THRILL OF IT ALL will be launched by Harvill Secker on 15 May. You can pre-order it here. It will be serialised by Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4, read over 10 nights in August 2014.
Joseph O’Connor is the author of the internationally acclaimed STAR OF THE SEA, as well as many other novels including GHOST LIGHT and REDEMPTION FALLS, and several short story collections. He was born in Dublin.
Praise for Joseph O’Connor:
'Joseph O’Connor is a fantastic writer…[STAR OF THE SEA] contains the whole echelon of society, as if Ireland actually is that creaking hull.’ -- David Morrissey, Actor, BAFTA winner
‘Ireland’s greatest storyteller’ –The Sunday Independent
‘GHOST LIGHT displays an astonishing command of voice, using tones that are both tender and powerfully emotional, with a brilliant command of the period.’ – Colm Tóibín
‘Joseph O’Connor has the magic touch, he brings whole eras alive with a touch of his cycloramic pen.’ – Column McCann