Tournament of Books discussion

Direct from The Morning News' Twitter feed (Tue, Feb 26):

"The Rooster poster and brackets launch in the morning, we swear."

So excited!

who does everybody want to see their favorite matched up against in the first round?

Excellent news! I run a pool at work and I've been getting questions about when the brackets will be out!

So excited! I'm still not done reading, though. I've got the big contenders out of the way (I think). As far as hype goes, I think Gone Girl would have to go up against The Fault In Our Stars to be fair. I think May We Be Forgiven could be paired with Sheila Heti's. I'm really curious how Building Stories will be judged. Also, I'm a little bummed they're only allowing one Iraq war book in, but I'm still pulling for Billy Lynn.

It's here!

http://www.themorningnews.org/post/br...

Funky (but cool) new graphic this year, here's the match-ups. Hope I go them correct in the new format. No seedings from what I can tell.

Round House vs. Fault in Our Stars
Orphan Master's vs. Where'd You Go, Bernadette

(Yellow Birds / Billy Lynn / Fobbit) vs. May We Be Forgiven
Dear Life vs. Building Stories

Arcadia vs. How a Person Should Be?
HHhH vs. Bring Up the Bodies

Gone Girl vs. Ivyland
Beautiful Ruins vs. Song of Achilles

Let the prognosticating begin!

My predictions:

Round House beats The Fault in Our Stars.
Orphan Master's Son beats Where'd You Go Bernadette.

Billy Lynn makes it into the first round (although I'd give it to Fobbit) only to lose to May We Be Forgiven.
Dear Life beats Building Stories.

Arcadia beats How Should a Person Be? (And if Arcadia loses to that book, I will weep for humanity.)
Bring Up the Bodies beats HHhH by a nose.

Gone Girl beats Ivyland.
Song of Achilles beats Beautiful Ruins.

Which two books are they doing first? Is that information on their new poster and I'm missing it?

(And I think that Orphan Master's Son against Where'd You Go Bernadette is a wildly unfair fight.)

I can't figure out the schedule, Miriam. I guess it will be revealed on Monday?

I kind of wish they'd put Where'd You Go Bernadette against Gone Girl. But then Ivyland v. Orphan-Master's Son would be terribly unfair, so I don't know.

i am guessing they will go clockwise? starting with the pre-tob trio, and then along from there?

Ugh! They really stacked the best books into a single quadrant. The Round House has been my favorite, but I think it has the toughest draw.

Love the design this year!

Ah, see, I'm worried about Arcadia and Bring Up the Bodies. I didn't want them in the same quadrant. I wanted them far, far away from each other, not to meet until the finals.

Gone Girl, Bring Up The Bodies, Building Stories and The Orphan Master's Son in the Final (pre-zombie) Four is my guess.

I've thought that Gone Girl has a chance to win for a while...Books that elevate genre fiction have a history of success here (Sisters Brothers, Wolf Hall), as they appeal to the widest audience. Long Halftime Walk and Bulding Stories are my dark horse bets as well.

I think Round House might beat The Orphan-Master's Son because it is more accessible. And a lot of people had issues with the last section of The Orphan-Master's Son.

Topher wrote: "Gone Girl, Bring Up The Bodies, Building Stories and The Orphan Master's Son in the Final (pre-zombie) Four is my guess.

I've thought that Gone Girl has a chance to win for a while...Books that e..."

You have chosen all of my favorites, and agree with your analysis of the competition. Sure hope you've called it

I am so fascinated by the brackets this year. I was actually cackling out loud as I read them. It seems like very few people have read Ivyland. I am wondering what kind of dark horse it will be, especially contrasted with Gone Girl.

There are definitely some interesting match ups here.

I'm generally wrong, but I like to play anyway. ;)
My guesses: Orphan Master's Son, Round House, really not sure whether it will be Billy Lynn or Fobbit but either will beat May We Be Forgiven, Arcadia, Bring Up the Bodies, Beautiful Ruins
The two I'm most uncertain about: Dear Life vs. Building Stories (because I think this one depends on how Charles Yu feels about Alice Munro and experimental non-books), Gone Girl vs. Ivyland (because holy dark horse Ivyland)
I do think that Gone Girl and The Fault in Our Stars are the most likely zombie candidates.

I just filled out my bracket (purely based on the books I'd pick if I were judging) so I'll go on record with my final four: Round House, Billy Lynn, Gone Girl and Bring up the Bodies. I'm picking Round House to go all the way.

That is pretty much my sentiment except for HHhH beats bodies.

Gayla wrote: "My predictions:

Round House beats The Fault in Our Stars.
Orphan Master's Son beats Where'd You Go Bernadette.

Billy Lynn makes it into the first round (although I'd give it to Fobbit) only to lo..."

Here is my final four based completely on what novels I loved: The Orphan Master's Son, Billy Lynn, Gone Girl, and Bringing Up the Bodies. I am crossing my fingers that Billy Lynn pulls the sleeper of the year and takes the tournament. Hands down my favorite book of the year.

I don't quite get the love for Round House, but I also don't think it's set up to be a ToB winner. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it just doesn't have the quirks that fit in with the tourney. I think any of the other three in it's section would beat it, since those books are more likely to stick out to a judge...I might be wrong.

To me the most interesting first round matchups are Dear Life and Buiding Stories--how do you choose between two books, neither of which is a novel, and both of which are near the top of their own genre, and those genres are so different?

Also: the invented histories of HHhH and Bring Up The Bodies? Two approaches to the question of how to handle the "fiction" in "historical fiction"

I agree with you, Topher. I liked Round House, but there's something about it that feels a little safe. I would say Bring Up the Bodies would win, except that didn't Wolf Hall win its year? I am still rooting for Arcadia.

And yeah, I'm really looking forward to the two decisions you mentioned, and the discussions afterward.