Nobel Prize For Literature: The Odds

The Nobel Prize for Literature will be awarded on Thursday, October 7th. Ladbrokes, the retail bookmaking website, is posting 7:2 odds on the favorite, Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o.  Swedish poet, Tomas Transtromer is currently 6:1, Japan's Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore) has moved into third place at 7:1, and Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, All The Pretty Horses) is the highest ranked American at 8:1 odds. Other long shots are: Philip Roth, 20:1; Alice Munro, 25:1 and Bob Dylan, 150:1. Below is a clip of stage director, Frank Galati commenting on the universal themes found in the writings of Haruki Murakami.