Interestingly, the judges weren’t hesistant in choosing Douglas for the honour. Chair of judges Margaret Busby said the judges’ decision was unanimous and they only “took an hour to decide”.

The book is “challenging,intimate and gripping… anyone who reads it will never feel the same,” she said.

Stuart,44, said he was “absolutely stunned” to win.

Shuggie Bain is an autobiographical novel, about the lonely gay son of an alcoholic mother in 1980s Scotland. It was one of four debut books in this year’s shortlist.

The novel follows the life of Agnes Bain, who is descending into despair and struggling with alcohol after the breakdown of her marriage.

All but one of her children, Shuggie, have been sympathetic to her deterioration. He struggles to help Agnes while suffering huge problems of his own.

Douglas dedicated his book and his prize to his mother, who died of alcoholism when he was 16.

He said that Shuggie was “a love story looking at that unconditional, often tested love that children can have for flawed parents”.

Douglas grew up in Glasgow and lives in New York. He is the second Scot to win the prize, following James Kelman in 1994 for How Late it Was, How Late.

The writer made New York his home to start a career in fashion design. He started writing his book a decade ago.

The ceremony, broadcast from London’s Roundhouse, included contributions from the Duches of Cornwall and former US President Brack Obama.

Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, who won the 1989 Booker for The Remains of the Day, was also part of the socially distanced proceedings, along with last year’s joint winners Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo.

The judges were under strict instructions not to have more than one winner for this year’s £50,000 prize.Under new guidelines, if they could not agree on a winner, a majority vote would be honoured.

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In a trending clip, Barack Obama left many stunned after he walked into a basketball court and scored an effortless basked from quite a distance. After scoring the shot, he yells, “That’s what I do.” He shared the clip with the caption, “Shoot your shot (sic).”
The video was shared by the former president on Twitter.

Shoot your shot. https://t.co/XdZz4dh82T pic.twitter.com/elpBmzu6hV

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 31, 2020

After he scored the basket, people present in the gym can be heard hooting and praising the former president. Then Biden walks into the frame and praises Obama saying, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. All net.” After which Obama, once again, jokingly says, “You don’t understand, that’s what I do.”

The netizen went crazy on social media and gave apt reaction to Obama’s skills. The video has garnered over 10 million views and thousands of likes.

The coolest of all time.
Please just come back and run the world, already!!! https://t.co/yMNhocVukb

— Shruti Seth (@SethShruti) November 1, 2020

Can we bring this guy back? https://t.co/YtmYq4UTVe

— Raemond99 (@raemond99) November 1, 2020

The video was initially shared by the Biden campaign’s travelling digital director Olivia Raisner.

Obama had played basketball during his school days and would often play basketball during rise to political prominence and kept it up during his time in White House.

The post Netizens go crazy as Barack Obama shows off his basketball skills appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The highly awaited ‘The Michelle Obama Podcast will be streamed on Spotify, and is a series of interviews pairing America’s first black first lady with one guest per episode.

“I can’t wait for you all to hear the conversations I’ve been having for the #MichelleObamaPodcast,” she tweeted.

I can't wait for you all to hear the conversations I've been having for the #MichelleObamaPodcast. My mom, my girlfriends, my colleagues, and many others all stop by, along with someone you’re pretty familiar with: @BarackObama is my first guest on 7/29! https://t.co/L8FgSZGAkG pic.twitter.com/v2rNJTWZDg

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) July 24, 2020

“My mom, my girlfriends, my colleagues, and many others all stop by, along with someone you’re pretty familiar with: @BarackObama is my first guest on 7/29.”

Others guests who will appear in future episodes include former senior advisor to President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, and talk show host Conan O’Brien.

The podcast is produced by Higher Ground Productions, founded by the Obamas in 2018. The company has also made content deals with Netflix.

The podcast will hold discussions on variety of topics including the coronavirus pandemic and the protest movement sparked by the death in police custody of George Floyd.

Obama released her Netflix documentary “Becoming” in May. Since then, more than 11.5 million copies pf her book ‘Becoming’ have been sold, and tens of thousands of people attended book events across the United States and abroad.

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