John Berger relates the story of ‘G’., a young man forging an energetic sexual career in Europe during the early years of the twentieth century
By John Berger
The Booker Prize 1972
- Winner
Proof of the prize’s new high profile came when John Berger used his platform as winner to make things political and donated half his prize money to the British Black Panther movement
Berger took umbrage with the prize sponsor, Booker McConnell. The food group, said the Marxist art critic and novelist, had benefited from more than a century of colonial exploitation in the West Indies so he was giving half his winnings to the British Black Panthers and keeping the other half for a study of migrant workers.
The fuss did wonders for the profile of the prize but less so for Berger (‘a literary thug’ as one newspaper named him) at the time, or his overshadowed winning novel, G.
G.
Winner of The Booker Prize 1972
- By
- John Berger
- Published by
- Weidenfeld & Nicolson
John Berger relates the story of ‘G’., a young man forging an energetic sexual career in Europe during the early years of the twentieth century
The shortlist
Susan Hill’s evocative exploration of love and madness charts the relationship between a brilliant but unhinged poet and his faithful companion
By Susan Hill
Thomas Keneally’s extraordinary story of one man’s violent revenge against an unjust and intolerant society is based in part on historical events
David Storey introduces Colin Pasmore. At night he runs races in his dreams, losing ‘to every dullard and idler in England’. His days are no better
By David Storey
