Israel's David Grossman wins Man Booker International Prize

Israeli author David Grossman won the Man Booker International Prize on Wednesday, sharing the £50,000 ($64,000, 57,000 euros) award with translator Jessica Cohen.

Grossman, the first Israeli writer to win the prize, is now expected to enjoy a spike in international sales for "A Horse Walks Into a Bar". The book unfolds over the course of a stand-up show during which comedian Dovelah Gee exposes a wound he has been living with for years and the difficult choice he had to make between the two people who were dearest to him.

"Thank you all. I will cherish this award and this evening," Grossman said after receiving the prize at a ceremony in central London.

"I thank first of all my wonderful, devoted, translator, Jessica Cohen," the 63-year-old author added. Judge Nick Barley said Grossman "attempted an ambitious high-wire act of a novel, and... pulled it off spectacularly" "We were bowled over by Grossman's willingness to take emotional as well as stylistic risks: every sentence counts, every word matters in this supreme example of the writer's craft," Barley added.

Grossman's works have been translated into more than 30 languages.