While Kiran Desai claims that no one wanted her book originally, Inheritance of Loss has won the 2006 Booker Prize, over a shortlist packed with formidable competition.

The novelist wins the 2006 Nobel Prize, provoking both pride and shame in his native Turkey. Catch up on his oeuvre with the Boldtype reviews of Snow and Istanbul.

With all the banter and kvetching going on this literary prize season, who's to judge? And how?

Google revealed the top ten most-searched texts from one week in September. These included the Qur'an, Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival (thanks, Hugo!), and instructions for building your own robot.

Salman Rushdie sells his papers — including his diaries of life under the fatwa — to Emory University. Brits lament their national loss and question whether such papers should leave the country.

Check out Slate's fall fiction week, which includes book reviews, an essay arguing for the The Sopranos as great modern fiction, and Gary Shteyngart's thoughts on the novel in the age of instant connectivity.

If you missed the festival, head to the web to see footage of the highlights, including Steve Martin and George Saunders.