Will Self
Tuesday 15 April 2008 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Will Self talks about his new novel The Butt, an allegorical tale which takes a swipe at the War on Terror, the liberal reaction to the Iraq war and much else in between.
Brenda Blethyn in The Glass Menagerie
Brenda Blethyn in The Glass Menagerie
Playlist
Will Self
Matthew Sweet talks to Will Self to discuss Self's new novel, 'The Butt: an Exit Strategy', a dark satirical comedy set in a fictional country reminiscent of a hybrid of Australia and an African state. The novel tells the story of Tom Brodzinski who falls foul of local laws when he throws a cigarette butt from the balcony of his hotel which lands on the head of a local man. Ordered to make amends directly to the victim's wife's tribe he undertakes a hazardous journey to the heart of the island.
The Butt: an Exit Strategy is published by Bloomsbury
Persian Letters
Matthew is joined by Andrew Kahn to discuss another satire involving visitors to a foreign land in a new translation of the eighteenth century writer Montesquieu's 'Persian Letters', in which two Persian travellers arrive in Paris just before the death of Louis XIV just in time to witness the hedonism of the Regency which followed.
Montesquieu: Persian Letters is published by Oxford World's Classics
The Glass Menagerie
Paul Allen will be reviewing the Royal Exchange, Manchester's production of 'The Glass Menagerie', Tennessee Williams' autobiographical play set in 1930s St Louis. Brenda Blethyn plays Amanda, who dreams of the days when she was a young Southern belle and the darling of her home town's social scene.
The Glass Menagerie is playing at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester to 24 May
The Minotaur
As the curtain comes down on Harrison Birtwistle's new opera 'Minotaur' at the Royal Opera House, Richard Coles will be giving Radio 3 listeners his first night review.
The Minotaur is playing at the Royal Opera House, London to 3 May
