Shorthand for this one: The Favorite. (Alternative shorthand: The White-Man-Teaches-The-Unwashed- To-Love-Literature Book)Mister Pip is set on the South Pacific island of Bougainville in the early 90s. As rebels approach and the white folks flee, only "Pop Eye" Watts remains to teach the local students using the only book he can find, Dickens' Great Expectations.
The knock on the book is that its theme is a bit too old-school British Empire. "Mister Pip contains a suspicious streak of paternalism throughout," says The Onion. "It invites sentiment yet gently mocks readers by exaggerating its own tropical colour," reassures The Australian.
Regardless, according to the UK gambling conglomerate William Hill, MP is the easy favorite to win this year's Man Booker Prize. It's listed at 2:1, ahead of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, lagging behind at 5:2.--David E
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