Well, by George, Bobbie - you got there, with Annette and Cynthia nipping at your heels. TM, really, I t hought you'd get one or two, but not seven - lol. George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays. He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film Pygmalion (adaptation of his play of the same name), respectively. Shaw turned down all other awards and honours, including the offer of a knighthood. Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as the lead vocalist and a founder member of the Rolling Stones. Jagger studied business courses at the London School of Economics, and had seriously considered becoming either a journalist or a politician, comparing the latter to a pop star. Jagger's career has spanned over 50 years, and he has been described as "one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock & roll". In 1989 Jagger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones. Multiple Silver, Gold and Platinum albums and records. Kevin Spacey, CBE (born Kevin Spacey Fowler; July 26, 1959) is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s, culminating in his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects (1995), followed by an Academy Award for Best Actor for American Beauty . During a career which has earned Spacey several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, his other starring roles include Seven (1995), L.A. Confidential (1997), Pay It Forward (2000), K-PAX (2001), and Superman Returns (2006). He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 to 2014. He currently stars as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. Sandra Annette Bullock (born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. She rose to fame in the 1990s with roles in films such as Demolition Man (1993), Speed (1994), The Net (1995), While You Were Sleeping (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), and Hope Floats (1998). In the new millennium, Bullock starred in Miss Congeniality (2000), Two Weeks Notice (2002), The Lake House (2006), and the critically acclaimed Crash (2004) and Gravity (2013). Bullock had initially turned down the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side three times due to a discomfort with portraying a devout Christian. She was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Motion Picture Drama, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role and Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress. The Blind Side also received an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination. So, there is our foursome!! Fearsome, huh?? I think so. So, for Bobbie: For Cynthia: And for Annette: Thanks to all for my Birthday wishes and for playing. See you next week. Now I'm off to check out Cynthia's question!! Nancy.

Zowie, wowie, you guys did a great job on this one. ***** Five gold stars for Martha, Patti, Steven, Eduarda, and Edna. Annette - you may deserve stars too, but I couldn't tell if, in your second post, you had just remembered the answer, or if you had looked it up. If the former, well, grab some gold stars ***** for yourself. Thanks for contributing more Churchill quotes. I didn't know he was the wit who gave us no good deed goes unpunished, one of my favorites also. I hope you all had a nice weekend. Thanks for playing. ThinMan

But I didn't know this novel couldn't be spoiled, so I just now read the thread. I listened to the unabridged version, so my response may be a tad bit unlike others. I didn't see the spelling of many names and so missed a number of clues. On the other hand, Zachry's tale, when read by a professional performer, was absolutely lovely. The cadences of the language was delightful. I had no struggle to get into his story. I loved and I hated this book. I was charmed by the first half of Adam's tale and was amused by our composer's struggle. I hated, hated, hated the Luisa Rey story. But that should surprise no one. I am a nuclear engineer who has spent 25 years doing safety analysis, risk assessments, and environmental assessments. I get very tired of those who do not understand that in a modern economy ignoring safety is short-term, very short-term, thinking and just stupid. (Just ask Merck - Looks like their liability on Vioxx is going to be in the tens of billions ultimately.) Rant over. I began to enjoy the story for a simple tale of murder and may-hem. I also began at that point to realize that Mitchell was using differing styles to tell his stories and to become intrigued in trying to figure out exactly what that meant. During the Ghastly Ordeal, I began to realize that struggles to get home, even when we have no home, was a running theme throughout the book. Safe haven perhaps being a better term. Cavendish certainly had a struggle to get safely out of London to his safe haven in the north. Then he had the struggle to return home. Luisa's young neighbor risked the jump across balconies to get to the safe haven of her apartment. Luisa herself was frequently in need of a safe haven. The youngster ultimately found his new safe home. Luisa found her place in life. Adam was, of course, going home. His Maoriori friend no longer had a home. Frobusher had been kicked out of his home and was looking for another. Was his suicide in part because he no longer had any place to go? Sonmi's home was taken away from her and her interim home wasn't exactly a home. (Was that portion of her story an homage to the students struggling to improve their prospects who practically live at the university or library, played off against those who are just there because Dad said they have to go? Always was that way, always will be?) Later we see her as she escapes to a safe haven, and then as she prepares for her version of Paradise, which of course, wasn't. Zachry is already in what most of us consider Paradise. Is home to him the place where the family plaques reside? Is his story paradise lost and then perhaps regained? He lives long enough to know his grandchildren which is an improvement over his previous home. We have a bridge and a crossing of water in all the tales, don't we? Wonder what exactly that means? I'm big with the individualist thing, but I'm also aware that individuals survive longer in groups...

So - shortlist prediction time! The shortlist comes out on Wednesday; I have read (or tried to read) ten of the thirteen. That's enough to make a stab at it. And I reckon that this is the best longlist I've seen for several years. 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster - I'd be surprised and upset if it wasn't shortlisted Days Without End by Sebastian Barry - didn't finish it, but I think it'll be shortlisted. History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund - I enojoyed it, but I don't think so. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid - I'm going to try to read this before Wednesday - I'll let you know. Solar Bones by Mike McCormack - I don't think so, but I'd be delighted if it were. Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor - I don't think so, but I wouldn't object Elmet by Fiona Mozley - not read yet. The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy - not read yet Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders - interesting. I didn't really like it, but it might be shortlisted. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie - abandoned - didn't like it. Autumn by Ali Smith - liked it - it might be shortlisted Swing Time by Zadie Smith - abandoned - didn't like it. But it'l probably be shortlisted. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - overhyped, in my opinion, but will probably be shortisted. So - I suspect the shortlist will be 4-3-2-1, Days Without End, Ministry of Utmost Happiness (just because it's her first since The God of Small Things, which won the Booker), Underground Railroad, Lincoln in the Bardo and Swing Time. The shortlist I'd like to see, based on the ones I've read, would be 4-3-2-1, Solar Bones, Reservoir 13, Autumn, Days Without End and either History of Wolves or Exit West, if I like it. So, on to Exit West.