Yes, it's the height of summer -- but the announcement of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature is less than a hundred days away (10 October seems the likely announcement date -- unless the deliberations stretch out, in which case it'll be the 17th).
The betting action only really gets going once Ladbrokes opens their book, but two other shops have already set some odds: betsson and betsafe. Predictably, the odds -- and the writers they offer odds on -- largely reflect the closing odds for the 2012 prize (minus winner Mo Yan -- but still including the ineligible (because deceased) Chinua Achebe) and so, for example, both have Murakami Haruki as their favorite (paying 3.00 and 4.60). They also agree on Nádas Péter as second or third favorite -- but there are lots of big spreads, so if you have an early favorite it's worth comparing and placing your money carefully: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o pays out five times as much at current odds at betsson as he does at betsafe, Ko Un pays almost ten times as much at betsafe as at betsson.
Both lists have many of the usual suspects, with a few of the surprise-recent-year additions to these betting lists -- Vijaydan Detha and Eduardo Mendoza Garriga, for example. Betsson has more of the don't-waste-your-money selections: Leif GW Persson and Jan Guillou, as well as the inevitable (and ignorable) Bob Dylan -- but betsafe does think there are people willing to bet on Andrea Camilleri.
Early punt suggestions at these odds: Javier Marías (100/1), Ngũgĩ and Kadare (50/1) at betsson; Ko Un (100/1) and Marías (75/1) at betsafe -- and maybe Amos Oz (27/1 at both).
But the real betting and speculation fun begins when Ladbrokes weighs in -- though that shouldn't stop you from starting to guess and argue.
The betting action only really gets going once Ladbrokes opens their book, but two other shops have already set some odds: betsson and betsafe. Predictably, the odds -- and the writers they offer odds on -- largely reflect the closing odds for the 2012 prize (minus winner Mo Yan -- but still including the ineligible (because deceased) Chinua Achebe) and so, for example, both have Murakami Haruki as their favorite (paying 3.00 and 4.60). They also agree on Nádas Péter as second or third favorite -- but there are lots of big spreads, so if you have an early favorite it's worth comparing and placing your money carefully: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o pays out five times as much at current odds at betsson as he does at betsafe, Ko Un pays almost ten times as much at betsafe as at betsson.
Both lists have many of the usual suspects, with a few of the surprise-recent-year additions to these betting lists -- Vijaydan Detha and Eduardo Mendoza Garriga, for example. Betsson has more of the don't-waste-your-money selections: Leif GW Persson and Jan Guillou, as well as the inevitable (and ignorable) Bob Dylan -- but betsafe does think there are people willing to bet on Andrea Camilleri.
Early punt suggestions at these odds: Javier Marías (100/1), Ngũgĩ and Kadare (50/1) at betsson; Ko Un (100/1) and Marías (75/1) at betsafe -- and maybe Amos Oz (27/1 at both).
But the real betting and speculation fun begins when Ladbrokes weighs in -- though that shouldn't stop you from starting to guess and argue.