"Geoff Dyer is a naturally funny writer," said one of the judges, the broadcaster James Naughtie. "It's a curious book in a way – it has two locations, one in Venice and the second in India. It's a book of two halves and it actually becomes a rather serious book – at least it takes on the serious subject of our spiritual journey in the world."
"But the whole spirit of the book is naturally comic," he continued, "and what is quite clear about Dyer is that he's got a real feel for the absurd. That's why we thought the should win this year."
Although Wodehouse himself never swore in his books, the winning book is laced with profanity. But the judges felt that it was so funny and so in keeping with the Wodehouse style that it should win.
