Man Booker 2014 - Shortlist Predictions

After an astonishingly poor showing for my longlist predictions - just one out of 13 - it's probably not a good reason to pay any heed to my shortlist choices. But a tradition is a tradition, so here we go with my thoughts for the six that will go toe-to-toe later in the year.

1. The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan (Chatto & Windus)
2. The Blazing World, Siri Hustvedt (Sceptre)
3. The Lives of Others, Neel Mukherjee (Chatto & Windus)
4. How to be Both,  Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
5. The Wake, Paul Kingsnorth (Unbound)
6. J,  Howard Jacobson (Jonathan Cape)

It's interesting that if I were right - which seems unlikely, but still - then only one of the shortlist would be American. From what I've read of the longlist, my favourites have been The Lives of Others, The Wake and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour.

Anyway, there you go. Let's see if I haven't jinxed all of the above...