Lost for Words review – Edward St Aubyn’s tart farce about literary prizes

Resentment looms large in this cruel retelling of the 2011 Booker jury deliberations

Edward St Aubyn cuts between bungling judges, nervous hopefuls and snippets from the shortlist.

Anthony Cummins

Sunday 12 July 2015  The Observer

Edward St Aubyn was among the heavyweights who lost out when 2011’s Booker jury went for novels that “zip along”; cue this tart farce about a fiction gong bankrolled by a napalm manufacturer. Ahead of prize night, we cut between bungling judges, nervous hopefuls and snippets from shortlisted works, including a cookbook sent in error (the judges can’t tell). Ex-MI5 boss Stella Rimington, Booker chair in 2011, influences the portrayal of Penny Feathers, who listens to submissions while driving because “of the pressure of so many books to read”. Crueller is the way St Aubyn has Penny sacrifice any bond with her daughter for a career she owes to nepotism. 
Amid the spite, inter-author romance blooms, but in a tale of literary culture under threat from an “empowering and proactive” app – it lets you rewrite novels to suit your taste – the main impression is of bracing bitterness.
Lost for Words is published by Picador (£7.99).