This year's Tournament of Books has begun!



This is the most important literary competition of the year: 16 novels are pitted against each other in single-elimination combat and only one will win. The books are paired via bracket, and then one lucky critic judges between the two of them, advancing the better book to the next round.

Decisions are arbitrary and final, but critics must explain their reasoning for advancing one and eliminating the other.

I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT OF BOOKS. IT IS THE MOST EXCITING THING GOING ON IN AMERICAN LITERATURE THESE DAYS (except for "The Fiction Circus," of course). LOOK AT MY PUPILS! THEY ARE AS DILATED AS HOCKEY PUCKS! STAND BACK OR YOU WILL GET SPITTLE!

Things that are perfect about The Tournament of Books:

1). Two dudes who have read all the novels that are up for contention (Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner) provide commentary on the proceedings in the same jocular, smarmy, and irritating way as real sportscasters. They are necessary and large.

2). Graphic novels can compete. This year the graphic novel "Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth" about Bertrand Russell's attempt to find a logical basis for all mathematics will be going up against Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" in the opening round.

3). The winning author of this contest gets a t-shirt.

4). You can bet on who will win if you want. I lost $20 last year when Toni Morrison's "A Mercy" took out Roberto Bolano's "2666."

5). Tournament of Books Mascot: a crowing rooster!

6). There is a Zombie Round where two books that have been eliminated return again to compete based on Internet Votes. The winner of the Zombie Round gets one last crack at victory.



7). All books featured in the tournament are 30% off at Powell's for the duration of the tournament! That's a pretty good goddamn deal!

8). Can you even NAME 16 novels published last year or why they are important? You will be familiar with at least a couple after this tournament. It is like when you watch Olympic figure skating and suddenly you give a shit about the lives and triumphs of the athletes. But this is human literature; it is actually worth knowing about. You should actually care.

Last year Toni Morrison won for her book "A Mercy," mainly because it was so much shorter than Roberto Bolano's "2666." You could fit thirty "A Mercies" inside one "2666." Morrison's book was therefore a masterpiece of understated elegance.

This year, the two big contenders are Colum McCann's "Let the Great World Spin" and Wells Towers' "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned." But anything can happen.

Posted by miracle on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:27:02 -0500 -- permanent link