A prize for Asians, man

Man Group, plc., must have an Asian fetish because they just awarded the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. A financial services company, Man Group has funded the Booker Prize (now called the Man Booker Prize) since 2002. Eager to assert the supremacy of the English language and Commonwealth writing, the Man Group has ensured that the $10,000 they disburse for the Man Asian prize pales in comparison to the ₤50,000 (or roughly $100,000) they give away for the Man Booker. Although it should be noted that the translator of this year's Man Asian winner received a cool $3,000 for his efforts and was cautioned by Man Group representatives "not to spend it all in one place."

The first ever recipient of the prize was Jiang Rong for his book Wolf Totem. "Jiang Rong" is actually a pseudonym so that the Iranian government doesn't realize that he is actually Salman Rushdie. Despite Rong's secretive inclinations, the book has sold phenomenally well in China and abroad.

Of the work, Man Asian prize panelist Nicholas Jose said, "It's a very original book, it's on a grand scale and it deals with large questions," implying that perhaps he had never read the book. In fact, after several further questions, he admitted with surprise, "What? Wolf Totem? I thought you were asking for my opinion of Playing for Pizza, by the irrepressible John Grisham! Yeah, I didn't get to Wolf Totem."