SYDNEY: Philip Roth, the American author of the 1960s cultural touchstone “Portnoy's Complaint” and more than two dozen other novels, was named Wednesday as the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for fiction. The $100,000 prize adds another accolade to Roth's five-decade career that includes a Pulitzer Prize in 1998, and that shows little sign of slowing. The Man Booker International Prize is awarded every two years to a living writer for overall contribution to fiction. It is connected to, but separate from, the better-known Man Booker Prize for Fiction, which is awarded each year for a specific book. Roth said he was delighted to win the prize, which he called a great honor. “One of the particular pleasures I've had as a writer is to have my work read internationally despite all the heartaches of translation that that entails,” Roth said in a statement. “I hope the prize will bring me to the attention of readers around the world who are not familiar with my work.” Roth beat 12 other short-listed authors, including Britain's John le Carre, Australia's David Malouf and Indian-born Canadian Rohinton Mistry. The winner was announced Wednesday at the Sydney Writers' Festival.
