Today the Zombie round begins for the Tournament of Books 2019. Zombie round is when books that have previously been eliminated come back for one last chance at life (very similar to Top Chef’s “Last Chance Kitchen”). This year’s zombie round winners are There There by Tommy Orange and My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Who will the Rooster crown as this year’s winner? The logo, mascot and prize for the Tournament of Books is a rooster and will be awarded on Friday.
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, an unflinching look at the failings of our prison system by the brilliant, bold novelist Rachael Kushner and Michael Ondaatje’s novel of spies and criminals, Warlight, which is as mysterious and intense as a foggy day in a bombed out London during the Second World War. Both made it through to the Zombie round, beating out sixteen books.
But the votes have been tallied and two debut sensations of 2018 will get up and try to win the Tournament once and for all: There There by Tommy Orange, his kaleidoscopic novel of what it means to be a Native American in contemporary America, who lost out toThe Mars Room (rematch?) in the last round; then there is the odd novel of a bewitching serial killer in Nigeria, her nurse sister who cleans it up and the awful men around them in Oyinkan Braithwaite‘s My Sister, the Serial Killer, who lost in the opening round to Richard Powers’ The Overstory.
So first off Warlight vs. There There, judged by SJ Sindu, an award winning Sri Lankan novelist from Massachusetts and the author of Marriage of a Thousand Lies. Then tomorrow it will be The Mars Room vs. My Sister, the Serial Killer, judged by Zan Ramanoff, author of A Song to Take the World Apart and Grace and the Fever.
It will finish off on Friday when a champion will be crowned. Who do you want to win? What was your favorite book in the tournament? What got left out?
