Making Book

Each bet on the 2008 Morning News Tournament of Books costs $10, and all the money bet will go to First Book, "a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books."

At the conclusion on the TMN 2008 Tournament of Books, we'll choose ten people at random who have backed the winning novel and send them each a huge prize package. Details on that to come, but don't worry it'll be worth it.

YOUR $10 = $90

We'll match up to $1000 worth of wagers and so will each of the super-cool companies listed below. Shouldn't your super-cool company be on this list? Write Michele Seiler and she'll hook you up. (michele@coudal.com)

The 2008 Morning News Tournament of Books

The Tournament of Books, we vowed, would be completely transparent. The names of the judges would be known to all, and the judges would admit to their own personal biases as well as their reasoning for every decision. The winner of this award wouldn't be any less arbitrary or any more legitimate than the winner of any other award, but the crowning of our arbitrary and illegitimate Best Book of the Year—the Champion Book of the Year, would be lots more fun.

And it has been, three years running, with David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, Ali Smith's The Accidental, and Cormac McCarthy's The Road taking top honors. As Smith noted in an email to the editors, "I am cock-a-hoop! I have NEVER won a prize of which I've been more delighted and proud. Thank you, TMN for this great, great honour."