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Bookmakers have dubbed David Mitchell's "Black Swan Green" as the favourite among 19 novels to be longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Price on Monday.
Mitchell, shortlisted for the literature award in 2004, was joined on the list by three former winners, Peter Carey, second-favourite according to betting house William Hill, Nadine Gordimer and Barry Unsworth.
William Hill rates Mitchell's odds as 5/1, followed by Carey's "Theft: A Love Story" at 6/1. Sarah Waters's "The Night Watch" has a 7/1 chance of winning, with Unsworth's "The Ruby In Her Navel" rated at 8/1. Howard Jacobson's "Kalooki Nights" has the fifth-best chance of winning at 10/1.
"Judging the Man Booker Prize puts you through almost as many emotions as there are in the novels," said Hermione Lee, chair of the judges for the award.
"We've tried to be careful and critical judges as well as being passionately involved.
"We have many regrets about some of the novels we've left off, and we could easily have had a longlist of about 30 books, but we're delighted by the variety, the originality, the drama and craft, the human interest and the strong voices in this longlist."
Included in the list was "In The Country of Men", Hisham Matar's debut novel.
On the other side of that coin are Gordimer, who won in 1974, Unsworth, a joint winner in 1992, and Carey, who has won twice, in 1998 and 2001.
Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" was shortlisted in 2004 but was beaten by Alan Hollinghurst's "The Line of Beauty".
"Many people believe David Mitchell deserved to win with Cloud Atlas and we think he may have better luck second time around," said Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for William Hill.
The 19-strong longlist was chosen from a total of 112 books, and will be narrowed once more to a shortlist of six on September 14. The winner, who will also be awarded a 50,000 pound (94,400 dollars, 74,200 euros) prize will be announced on October 10.
Last year's winner was "The Sea" by John Banville, with the award helping propel the book to sales of almost 250,000 copies.
The 19 longlisted books are:
1) Peter Carey - "Theft: A Love Story"
2) Kiran Desai - "The Inheritance of Loss"
3) Robert Edric - "Gathering the Water"
4) Nadine Gordimer - "Get A Life"
5) Kate Grenville - "The Secret River"
6) MJ Hyland - "Carry Me Down"
7) Howard Jacobson - "Kalooki Nights"
8) James Lasdun - "Seven Lies"
9) Mary Lawson - "The Other Side of the Bridge"
10) Jon McGregor - "So Many Ways To Begin"
11) Hisham Matar - "In The Country of Men"
12) Claire Messud - "The Emperor's Children"
13) David Mitchell - "Black Swan Green"
14) Naeem Murr - "The Perfect Man"
15) Andrew O'Hagan - "Be Near Me"
16) James Robertson - "The Testament of Gideon Mack"
17) Edward St Aubyn - "Mother's Milk"
18) Barry Unsworth - "The Ruby In Her Navel"
19) Sarah Waters - "The Night Watch"
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AFPEntertainment-literature-Booker-prize
AFP 142048 GMT 08 06
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