Sunday 16:00-16:30, repeated Thursday 16:00-16:30, except first Sunday in the month when it is replaced by Book Club.
Open Book spotlights new fiction and non-fiction, picks out the best of the paperbacks, talks to authors and publishers, and unearths lost masterpieces.
This week
Sunday 26 February 2006
Joanne Harris on her literary hero Ray Bradbury and Reggie Perrin creator, David Nobbs, on the fourth in his series of Henry Pratt novels.
Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, is being republished in Gollancz's Fantasy Masterwork series. Novelist Joanne Harris joins Mariella Frostrup to talk about Bradbury, who she first read when she was nine and has continued to enjoy ever since, and explores the way his writing has influenced her own books, especially Chocolat.
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury Publisher: Gollancz ISBN: 057507874X
Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Publisher: Minotauro ISBN: 8445074873
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury Publisher: Reclam Philipp Jun. ISBN: 315009058X
The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury Publisher: Grafton Books ISBN: 0246636335
The Golden Apples of the Sun - Ray Bradbury Publisher: Pocket Books ISBN: 0671017888
David Nobbs is perhaps best known for his comic creation Reggie Perrin but has also written many other books including A Bit of a Do and the Henry Pratt novels. He talks to Mariella about the fourth in this series - Pratt A Manger - and why he finds it hard to dislike his characters.
Pratt a Manger - David Nobbs Publisher: William Heinemann ISBN: 0434012459
The Cucumber Man - David Nobbs Publisher: Mandarin ISBN: 0749322675
A Bit of a Do - David Nobbs Publisher: Mandarin ISBN: 0749310154
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin - David Nobbs Publisher: Mandarin ISBN: 074930379
Quick Reads
To mark this year's World Book Day 12 authors, including Open Book's guests Minette Walters and Patrick Augustus, have written short books designed for people who struggle with reading, or who are simply too busy to get to the end of a novel. Follow this link to find out more about Quick Reads and World Book Day.
Don't Make Me Laugh (Quick Reads) - Patrick Augustus Publisher: The X Press ISBN: 1902934466
Chickenfeed (Quick Reads) - Minette Walters Publisher: Pan ISBN: 0330440314
Sybille Bedford
The novelist Sybille Bedford has died aged 94. As a tribute, Open Book offers another chance to hear her conversation with Mariella Frostrup recorded last June, which would turn out to be her last broadcast interview.
