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| | | OPEN BOOK
Spotlights new fiction and non-fiction, picks out the best of the paperbacks, talks to authors and publishers, and unearths lost masterpieces. | | | | | LISTEN AGAIN | | | |
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| | PRESENTER | | | |
|  | | | | Defying any attempt to pigeonhole her skills and talents Mariella combines her television and radio career with that of a prolific journalist.
Over a fifteen-year TV career she has continued to impress both audiences and critics with her friendly, accessible and intelligent screen presence. Her projects run the gamut from current affairs to movies and the arts.
As a journalist she is currently the film critic for Harpers And Queen and has a weekly dilemma column in The Observer Magazine, while her book reviews and travel pieces appear regularly in the press. She has also been a member of the Booker-Mann Prize panel.
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| | | | | | PROGRAMME DETAILS | | | |
|  | | Cover of Home by Julie Myerson (Flamingo).
Listen to PD James interview
Listen to Julie Myerson interview
Scroll down for programme information
To see the list of life-changing books chosen by you and to hear the programme again, click on 11 April in the Recent Programmes section on this page.
The Reading Clinic:
Do you have a problem that concerns books? If so, Open Book's Reading Clinic wants to hear from you.
For instance, do you have a partner who never reads and want some suggestions as to what might entice them in to the world of literature?
Are there some books or genres that you have never managed to get your head round and to which you'd like an introduction?
What book do you give to the person who has read everything?
Where do I start with Proust?
What book should I take on a long train journey?
How do you get teenage boys to read?
If you want a full and frank discussion of your particular literary conundrum, then Open Book's Reading Clinic can prescribe the right book for you.
Please contact Open Book here with your literary ailment, giving as many details as you can including a daytime contact number if possible.
This week's programme:
Mariella Frostrup talks to detective novelist P D James about the life and work of the mystery writer Dorothy L Sayers. James explains how Sayers' style, faith, humour and her detective Lord Peter Whimsey influenced her own writing and the creation of Adam Dalgleish. Novelist Julie Myerson explains why she has branched into non fiction in her new book, Home: The Story of Everyone Who Ever Lived in Our House. And as more and more of us take refuge in spiritual retreats we look at what you should and shouldn’t be reading while escaping.
List of Books:
Novels by Dorothy L. Sayers:
Gaudy Night, The Nine Tailors, Murder Must Advertise and The Hangman’s Holiday are re-published by Hodder & Stoughton this week.
The full list of Lord Peter Wimsey novels is as follows:
Whose Body; Clouds of Witness; Unnatural Death; The Unpleasantness and the Bellona Club; Lord Peter Views the Body; Strong Poison; The Five Red Herrings; Have His Carcase; Murder Must Advertise; Nine Tailors; Gaudy Night; Busman’s Honeymoon; Thrones, Domination; In The Teeth of the Evidence.
Not all of these are currently in print but should be available through your local library and good second-hand bookshops.
Reading on Retreat:
R S Thomas, Collected Poems 1945 to 1990 (Orion)
Fyodor M. Dostoevsky, The Idiot (Vintage Classics)
Graham Greene, Monsignor Quixote (Vintage)
Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca (Virago)
Click here for a full list of the retreat organisations available in the UK
Julie Myerson’s novel, Home: The Story of Everyone Who Ever Lived in Our House, is published by Flamingo on 5th May 2004.
E-mail Open Book here with your comments and views.
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