The Man Booker Prize is awarded to the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the British Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. It is not only one of literature's highest honors but quite lucrative as the winner takes home £50,000.
The 2004 longlist was announced on August 26. The shortlist will be announced on September 21 and the winner on October 19.
- Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam
- Clear: A Transparent Novel by Nicola Barker
- The Island Walkers by John Bemrose
- Havoc, in its Third Year by Ronan Bennett
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
- Always the Sun by Neil Cross
- Bitter Fruit by Achmat Dangor
- Becoming Strangers by Louise Dean
- A Blade of Grass by Lewis Desoto
- The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
- Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson
- The Honeymoon by Justin Haythe
- The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
- The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
- Sixty Lights by Gail Jones
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- The Unnumbered by Sam North
- Snowleg by Nicholas Shakespeare
- Cherry by Matt Thorne
- The Master by Colm Tóibín
- I'll go to Bed at Noon by Gerard Woodward
