Salman Rushdie misses out on Booker

Salman Rushdie has failed to make the Man Booker Prize shortlist, despite being widely tipped to win the £50,000 award for his novel The Enchantress of Florence. Among the six hopefuls are two first-time novelists, Aravind Adiga, for The White Tiger, who at 35 is the youngest writer ever to make the shortlist, and Steve Toltz with his debut, A Fraction of The Whole. Linda Grant is the only woman to make the list. The other three are Philip Hensher, Sebastian Barry and Indian writer Amitav Ghosh Murray.

The winning writer will be handed the prize in London on October 14. Michael Portillo, the chair of judges, called the six final works "intensely readable", adding they are "extraordinary examples of imagination and narrative".

Explaining Rushdie's exclusion, Portillo said: "In the opinions of five people taken together, The Enchantress of Florence simply wasn't one of the top six books. I wouldn't say we had a heated debate over it. We certainly had passionate debates - but there wasn't a particularly passionate debate over this book."

Broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli, a member of the judging panel, went
further: "I think Rushdie's writing is patchy, to be honest," he said. "He has written some good books and some not-so good books. There is no doubting the man's massive intellect. But I have never known a book split the public so much as Midnight's Children. People will secretly confess to not finishing. Others will secretly confess to hating it. For others, it is the one book they would take to their grave."

Three of the authors have a history with the prize. Sebastian Barry was shortlisted in 2005 for his novel A Long, Long Way, Linda Grant was longlisted in 2002 for her novel Still Here and Philip Hensher, once a Booker judge himself, was longlisted in 2002 for his novel The Mulberry Empire.

The full shortlist is: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger; Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture; Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies; Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs; Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency; Steve Toltz, A Fraction of The Whole.