claim to fame

My great grandfather was mayor of Yeovil in the 60's. Not really that famous but that's the closest I've got.

Went to school with a girl who played cricket for England, won the World Cup in 2009.

Met a few old Liverpool players, plus Graeme Thompson. Andy the singing bin-man. Oh and Mr C used to coach Dennis Bergkamp's son in football. We went to Holland with them on a football tour.

Not exactly famous but my grandad who passed away last year was mayor / a serving councillor for over 30 years and also leader of The Jazz Caverners band. Prior to his death he had been the first person to receive the Polegate civic award and has a National Express coach that travels from Eastbourne to London named after him . Following his death they have named a road after him . It's called Roy Martin Way which is pretty appropriate as he was a very unique individual.

Oh please tell me! I really want to say I sort-of know someone whose father wrote the Man Booker Prize winning novel xxxxxxxx. This will be my brand new claim to fame to add to my dubious list. You must be so proud of your dad, that is a brilliant achievement.

I assume your dad isn't Alan Hollinghurst!

Can you narrow it down to a decade? I have read most of the 2000s.

If it is introspective *as Footlong said* I suspect it is Julian Barnes...Can you tell me if I am right?

It's not my job to reveal. But I think ^^^ a bit of a jump. Many prize-winning books are introspective....

I think this is my favourite.

Who mentioned Alan Hollinghurst? The Line of Beauty is my favourite book, ever, but struggling with his latest The Stranger's child, or something.

I once served Cliff Richard as a 16 year old check-out girl in waitrose. He was a complete k*ob

OK - so it isn't a book that is introspective in its narrative style but is in its topic/theme.

Do I get a hint to the decade?

I need to now make a list of all Man Booker novels, by men, that I have read and arrange these on a continuum of very introspective to not introspective at all. I will then need to work backwards to fill in any gaps.

Question - Should I read The History of the Kelly Gang? I ask as I'm not into historical fiction and imagine it isn't introspective (unless the author is Australian or related to Kelly?).

PS Alan Hollinghurst lover - My favourite is the Line of Beauty too, Have you watched the BBC adaptation? It is really good. The Strangers Child is good, you have to let go a little of the usual Hollinghurst format and wait for the gaps in the narrative to be filled in. The final narrative voice took me a while to adapt to but I found it to be the most revealing as it was that little more removed and had less invested in the poet. It's actually a sad book, the loss of 'genius' amongst the desire to catalogue a life which invariably attempts to categorise and dissect. I felt that Hollinghurst was suggesting that genius or talent is an entity in its own right and is separate to the identity of the artist. Also, you can never capture that spark once it has gone, through objects, books or theories.

I wrote a paper at uni comparing The Swimming Pool Library and Room with a View for my Queer Theory unit - ironically making the same error that Hollinghurst is suggesting should be avoided!

Not a relation but I worked with Liam Payne from One Directions mom...

Therefore met him. He sang for us..

Oh and my Grandads best friend went out with Dierdre Barlow!

Ahhh I need to dig it out and read it again - I usally re-read every couple of years. Ahhh I LOVED the BBC adaption. Normally I hate the movie/tv programme after the book as it just isn't as satisfying (book lover/snob). but the adaption was fantastic. I gave it to my mum who then passed it around all her friends who loved it too. Acting was superb. I will keep going with the Strangers Child, as I don't like to let a book defeat me, but just expected to be "grabbed" more than half way in. It was Sunday Times Book of the year so I keep waiting to agree (as the Times/Sunday Times is one of my favourite things in the world).

Never read the Swimming Pool but always meant to - next on my list to buy.

RK - It's very introspective in narrative style, how can a book be introspective about a topic? I'm not sure where you're going or what you're thinking....in fact, this whole conversation is very confusing. Why does it depend on the ones you have read? Bizarre.

Peter Carey is an excellent writer. I was ambivalent about the True History Of The Kelly Gang - not usually my kind of book - but it was actually pretty fab. My Dad really liked it as well. And yes, Carey is Australian. Again, why would that indicate introspection? Is it not possible for a non-Australian to be introspective about Australia? Anyway, it's not an introspective book, it's a bit of a rollicking tale.

Anyway, you're all wrong. By far the best Booker winner is The God Of Small Things. In the last few years, it recently overtook Midnight's Children in my ranking. And that one's the Booker of Bookers. Sigh, if only Arundhati Roy had written as second....

I'm not sure where I'm going with that train of thought either - I guess my idea of introspection is an inward looking narrative, exploring self in some way - Either emotions/philosophical wonderings or something that is an aspect of the self. That is why I thought that Carey, as an Australian, could be using the Kelly Gang as a means to consider his/the Australian identity. Just as I might write about the supposed grounding of the Spanish Armada in Sligo to explore my Irish identity. That is what I mean by theme/topic as opposed to narrative voice, which is more about the style of the writing. What do you mean by introspection Footlong?

I'm quite sure I read the God of Small Things, but I can't remember it...

I loved The Night Circus last year but, to my shame, since beginning teaching, I don't find time to read more than class texts and YA fiction except on holiday.