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Javier Marias on Thus Bad Begins

Mariella Frostrup talks to award-winning Spanish novelist Javier Marias, whose latest book, Thus Bad Begins, is an intimate portrait of a marriage.

Mariella Frostrup talks to award winning Spanish novelist Javier Marias whose latest book Thus Bad Begins explores an intimate, even suffocating, relationship between a film maker, his wife and a family friend all observed by the film maker's assistant. It's a novel about secrets, betrayal and deceit and the author talks about why this murky, shadowy world interests and inspires him.
Also on the programme writers Tash Aw and Chris Abani discuss what happened when they were asked to compose essays about their own faces and Dr Sarah Dillon turns her expert close reading eye on to a disturbing extract from J M Coetzee's acclaimed novel Disgrace.

Available now

28 minutes

Chapters

  • Javier Marias

    Duration: 10:39

  • Tash Aw and Chris Abani

    Duration: 08:17

  • Sarah Dillon

    Duration: 07:54

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterMariella Frostrup
Interviewed GuestJavier Marias
Interviewed GuestTash Aw
Interviewed GuestChris Abani
Interviewed GuestSarah Dillon

Broadcasts

  • Sun 13 Mar 201616:00
  • Thu 17 Mar 201615:30

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