THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE MONTH. Cont'd.
Note on "The Master Butchers Singing Club".
Having survived World War I, Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend, killed in action. With a suitcase full of sausages and a master butcher's precious knife set, Fidelis sets out for America. In Argus, North Dakota, he builds a business, a home for his family -- which includes Eva and four sons -- and a singing club consisting of the best voices in town. When the Old World meets the New -- in the person of Delphine Watzka -- the great adventure of Fidelis's life begins. Delphine meets Eva and is enchanted. She meets Fidelis, and the ground trembles. These momentous encounters will determine the course of Delphine's life, and the trajectory of this brilliant novel.
LONDON
BOOKS NEWS
Beckham's 'My Side' scores in book awards
David Beckham's autobiography My Side - ghostwritten by the former EastEnders actor Tom Watt - is among eight books nominated for main prize at the British Book Awards next month. Other books in contention for the book of the year prize include JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Alexander McCall Smith's The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the bestselling grammar book Eats, Shoots & Leaves and the former royal butler Paul Burrell's account of his life with Diana, Princess of Wales, A Royal Duty. While prizes such as the Man Booker and Whitbread awards attempt to reward pure literary merit, the British Book Awards are publishing's main industry award ceremony. Nominations tend to go to bestselling books rather than low-selling darlings of the literary world. Beckham's autobiography is also nominated in the sports book of the year category. Burrell, who refers to himself as Diana's "rock", said he was delighted to be competing with the footballer, who he singled out as his main rival. "I am a great admirer of David Beckham and I am very much looking forward to this literary contest between the man from Buckingham Palace and the man from Beckingham Palace," he said. "I think it will be my one and only chance to be on a level playing field with one of the world's greatest footballers - and have a chance of beating him." The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on 7 April and will be televised on Channel 4 two days later. The awards will be hosted by the presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan. The remaining nominees for the Book of the Year award are Brick Lane by Monica Ali, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold- Cris Bunting
Iris's lover takes his posthumous revenge
Newly published memoirs of Nobel Prize-winning author Elias Canetti contain devastating attack on Iris Murdoch
She is regarded as one of the most accomplished writers of post-war Britain. Hundreds of thousands of fans still buy and borrow her novels. The touching tale of her life with her husband John Bayley, her descent into ill-health and her eventual death five years ago in the film Iris only served to strengthen her standing. But Elias Canetti, the Nobel Prize-winning writer who shared tender moments with Iris Murdoch as her lover, has savaged her in newly published posthumous memoirs, in which he rubbishes her