In this fascinating account of the Nobel Prize's social life, Michael Ka-Chi Cheuk probes the many ways in which the prize's 'scandalous prestige' is co-created by the Swedish committee, by the media, and by writers themselves who variously contest and enhance the prize's effects. Cheuk's nuanced discussion shows why the prize continues to serve as a valuable venue for cross-cultural debate and as a stimulus to new artistic creativity. This eminently readable book is a model of world literary studies today.

David Damrosch, Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University, USA

In this in-depth study of the social conditions, functions and consequences of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Michael Ka-Chi Cheuk makes an indispensable contribution to cultural sociology and studies of international literary circulation. With its East-Asian perspective on the European award, the monograph not only offers substantial additions to our understanding of cross-cultural literary prestige, but also presents a necessary reconfiguration of how contemporary world literature is actually constructed.

Paul Tenngart, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Lund University, Sweden

Each year, many people, particularly voracious readers of literature, anticipate the announcement of the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Michael Cheuk's book provides us with valuable insights into the inner workings of the Prize and the many forces that push the process of judgment, which is often controversial and sometimes scandalous, and helps us understand this prestigious Prize and its possible future.

Longxi Zhang, Xiaoxiang Chair Professor, Hunan Normal University, China, and author of World Literature as Discovery: Expanding the World Literary Canon