HAT TRICK
Prizes can be superfluous. I say this because we all know how frustrating they can be, year after year, as debates about the best film, album or book pop up at dinner tables. We know these decisions are subjective, and almost always political, but wait for them anyway because celebrating these achievements makes us happier to be human, if only for a little while, until the next shortlist appears.
The Booker Prize longlist will appear this month, and while it will be earth-shattering only to the rapidly shrinking number of people who still think about literature while the
