Yes, John, now go tell Michiko

After the Booker shortlist was announced, John Sutherland, chair of the judges, came out with this gem:
"If I had my way, I would give Salman Rushdie the Nobel Prize. But I am not king of the world here."

He hasn't read Ms Kakutani's review of Shalimar, has he now?
"Worse, "Shalimar the Clown" is hobbled by Mr. Rushdie's determination to graft huge political and cultural issues onto a flimsy soap opera plot - a narrative strategy that not only overwhelms his characters' stories but also trivializes the larger issues the author is trying to address."

(Oh and for the benefit of the reader of this blog who keeps writing in to ask who Michiko Kakutani is? McSweeney's had an answer.)