From Dark Horse to Favourite

'Mr Pip' author goes from outsider to favourite in a day
The odds on New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones winning the Man Booker Prize for his Bouganville-set novel Mister Pip have shortened from 20/1 to 2/1, the best on the shortlist of six, according to William Hill Betting Operations in London. The shortlist was announced yesterday.
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said, "I have been doing the prizes for the Man Booker Prize for 25 years now and this is the first time I can remember a book going from the total outsider of the field to become the clear favourite. It is just unprecedented.
"We could be looking at our first six-figure payout in Booker history. We are even seeing people betting on a double of New Zealander Jones winning the Booker and hot favourites NZ winning the rugby World Cup, which currently pays odds of 7/2."
However, another prominent British bookmaker, Ladbrokes, has Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach at 6/4 favourite, with Nicola Barker's Darkmans in second place at 3/1 and Mister Pip third at 4/1.
Jones said he was thrilled - and also dismissed speculation that his property-magnate brother Sir Bob Jones may have had a hand in placing some large bets. "He is not a punter," Jones told One News. "He is very conservative so, no, he would not be putting money on me."
Online retailer Amazon.co.uk reports that sales of Mister Pip have surged week-on-week since the Booker longlist was announced in August. …
Mister Pip has already won the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Prize for best fiction this year.
It took Jones three years and 10 drafts to pen the story, which is narrated by 13-year-old Matilda, who becomes transfixed by Pip, the character in Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations after it is read to her class by an eccentric teacher.
The Man Booker winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Guildhall in London on October 16.
The other books on the shortlist are The Reluctant Fundamendalist, by Mohsin Hamid, Animal's People, by Indra Sinha, and The Gathering, by Anne Enwright. If Jones wins, he will be just the second New Zealander to do so. Keri Hulme won with bone people in 1985.
New Zealand Herald. Saturday September 08, 2007 By Linda Herrick .