--- ---  # 2 Americans on Man Booker Prize 2014 Shortlist by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Sep 9, 2014 11:52 AM UTC  US Author Karen Joy Fowler US Author Karen Joy FowlerDavid Levenson—Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Sep 9, 2014 11:52 AM UTC Two Americans are among the six authors on [this year’s shortlist](http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-fiction-2014-shortlist-revealed) for the Man Booker Prize, the United Kingdom’s best known and most prestigious literary prize. Karen Fowler is in the running for the Pen/Faulkner Award-winning novel [_We are all Completely Besides Ourselves_](http://www.amazon.com/Completely-Beside-Ourselves-Faulkner-Award/dp/0399162097)_,_ about a young woman raised with a chimpanzee for a sister. Also up for consideration is Joshua Ferris’ [_To Rise Again at a Decent Hour_](http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Again-Decent-Hour-Novel), the tale of a New York dentist who finds his identity has been stolen. Novels by U.S. writers will compete with _The Narrow Road to the Deep North_ by Australian author Richard Flanagan, and three books by British writers: _The Lives of Others_ by Neel Mukherjee, _How to be Both_ by Ali Smith, and _J_ by past Booker winner Howard Jacobson. This is the first time that novels by writers from outside of the Commonwealth have been eligible for the $85,000 award. The winner will be announced Oct. 14. Americans Karen Fowler and Josh Ferris on Man Booker Prize Shortlist ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3308581/man-booker-prize-americans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3308581/man-booker-prize-americans/"},"headline":"2 Americans on Man Booker Prize 2014 Shortlist","datePublished":"2014-09-09T11:52:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:04:44.020Z","description":"Joshua Ferris and Karen Fowler are in the running for one of the U.K.'s most prestigious literary prizes","url":"https://time.com/3308581/man-booker-prize-americans/","keywords":["Books","Literature","American"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c7077853d921c39/6986a2773bc99906741a535c/52675690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c7077853d921c39/6986a2773bc99906741a535c/52675690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Author Karen Joy Fowler - Portrait Session","caption":"Author Karen Joy Fowler - Portrait Session","creditText":"David Levenson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3308581/man-booker-prize-americans/","name":"2 Americans on Man Booker Prize 2014 Shortlist"}}]}] ```