Hints About the Nominees

We did this last time and we (and by "we," I mean I) can't resist doing it again.  For those who enjoy guessing, here are some oblique hints about the next crop of nominees:

• Two of the nominees are intricate literary efforts in which every sentence has been meticulously worked over, both of them sustaining.a cultural heritage.
• One of the nominees collects several short stories and frames these into a narrative spanning several years.
• Four of the five nominees contain references to at least one erection, leaving outsiders to wonder at the potentially prurient nature of the LBC.
• Four of the five nominees have titles composed of four words.
• Three of the five nominees feature a remarkably sexy description of a teenage boy.
• Of the five, the longest page count is 404 pages.
• Of the five, the shortest page count is 200 pages.
• One novel's structure is so intricate that there is a corresponding website.
• Four of the five nominees' authors are dudes.
• One of the five nominees features a blurb from David Mitchell. Another features blurbs from Edward P. Jones and Alice McDermott.
• If you're interested in anagrams, the words KANG SLOPES spell out the two-letter acronyms for all five authors.
• Number of Amazon reviews per title:  4, 3, 1, 2, 2.

Just before we announce the winner, there will be more arcane clues to come!

And thank you very much, Kate Atkinson.

Comments

[booksquare]

If I may add one clue: one of the nominees has a fascinating obsession with flatulence. Just sayin'...

[Dan Wickett]

Perhaps you could clue us in on who the five making nominations this time period were???

[Abigail]

"One novel's structure is so intricate that there is a corresponding website."

I don't suppose this is Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves? Or is there an eligibility cut-off?

[ed]

Abigail: The elgibility for "House of Leaves" is indeed cut off. But that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy it. :)

[Sam]

Ed, did you notice that Danielewski is one of Moody's co-conspirators in the event I blogged earlier?

http://www.chfestival.org/fest2005/home.cfm?sec=adult&page=prog&id=1085

Abigail, have you read the book?

[Abigail]

Yup, and found it trippy and odd and great fun. Although possibly not as trippy and odd as the experience of reading through the HoL forums (http://www.houseofleaves.com/forums/), which seem to encapsulate all the best and worst things about obsessive internet fandom.

[Jozef Imrich]

I have no clue, but as long as they all have something to do with ;-)

'The fastness of friendship; the treachery of one's nearest; the destruction of good by good. Passion which overrides reason http://goldenrulejones.blogspot.com/2003_11_01_goldenrulejones_archive.html#106944666361489478
AND VIOLENT AND PROUD DEATH!'

[Richard McCann]

I've looked at the clues and I'm betting that one of the finalists is Elizabeth Poliner's Mutual Life & Casualty--a wonderful novel!