Kaum etwas polarisiert die Literaturwelt mehr als der Nobelpreis. Einen Blick hinter die Kulissen provozierte Tim Parks boshafte Polemik über das Literaturkomitee der Schwedischen Akademie. In seiner Antwort erläutert Per Wästberg, der Komitee-Präsidenten:

The Nobel Committee consists of five members out of the rest of the Swedish Academy. By February we get about 220 suggestions from all around the world. By April we have concocted an “expectancy” list of twenty. By May we get the Academy to approve a short list of five to be read during the next four months. No one could get the prize without having been on the list for at least two years. Be sure we read a select group of American, Canadian, and Australian writers continuously!