13 Man Booker finalists

The British-based Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for literary fiction, announced its longlist Wednesday, with five American authors on the list of 13.

It’s only the third year that authors from outside the Commonwealth have been considered for the prize, which presented its first award in 1969. It has such a high profile in Britain that people wager on its outcome, following the odds on betting sites such as Ladbrokes.

Paul Beatty made the 2016 longlist for his novel “The Sellout,” a biting satire about race relations in a fictional community in South Los Angeles. The novel was the winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle prize for fiction.

Writing for The Times, critic Kiese Laymon called Beatty’s novel “spectacular” and “among the most important and difficult American novels written in the 21st century.”

“The Sellout” joins four other American books on the longlist: David Means’ “Hystopia,” Ottessa Moshfegh’s “Eileen” (which was a finalist for the NBCC award won by Beatty), Virginia Reeves’ “Work Like Any Other” and Elizabeth Strout’s “My Name Is Lucy Barton.”

The longlist will be winnowed down to a six-book shortlist, which is scheduled to be announced Sept. 13. The winner of the prize, which is worth about $65,000, will be revealed on Oct. 25 at a ceremony in London. Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, who entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Outside court, Chesnoff said he needs to complete his investigation and review the evidence before he comments.

The allegation came to light after bystander video showed actor Nicolas Cage physically restraining Neil before police arrived April 7 outside the Aria casinohotel. A female autograph seeker told police that Neil grabbed her. Neil wasn’t arrested at the time, and Cage wasn’t accused of a crime. Chesnoff described the two men as friends.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Cynthia Cruz set a Sept. 19 trial date.