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 30 July 2006
Mariella Frostrup talks to novelist David Dabydeen about Sam Selvon's definitive novel of the Windrush generation, The Lonely Londoners.
The Lonely Londoners
Sam Selvon's groundbreaking book The Lonely Londoners tells the story of West Indian migrant Moses, and his band of fellow immigrant friends learning to cope with life in grey, 1950s London. Selvon portrays both the romance and illusion of an imagined city that was both magnet and nightmare for its new colonial citizens.
The Lonely Londoners - Sam Selvon Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd ISBN: 0141188413
Jon McGregor talks about his second novel, So Many Ways To Begin, telling the story of marriage as both partners struggle to come to terms with painful truths from the past. Jon McGregor's first novel, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, published when he was only 26, was long listed for the Booker Prize.
So Many Ways to Begin (Hardcover) - Jon McGregor Publisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 0747579466
If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor Publisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 0747561575
Sporting memoirs
In the week that Tiger Woods so memorably cried on winning the British Open remembering the loss of his father, Open Book looks at the way in which dads have been written about by writers searching to understand their own relationships with their fathers.
My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes - Gary Imlach Publisher: Yellow Jersey Press ISBN: 0224072684
Vulnerable in Hearts: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons and Contract Bridge - Sandy Balfour Publisher: Atlantic Books ISBN: 1843543664
Preferred Lies: A Journey to the Heart of Scottish Golf (Hardcover) - Andrew Greig Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN: 0297848356
This Life, This Life: Selected Poems 1970-2006 - Andrew Greig Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd ISBN: 1852247134
Is There a Book In You?
Alison Baverstock provides a guide for the aspiring writer to find out if they have what it takes to write a novel, including a questionnaire to test writing ability and a creativity test
Is There a Book in You? - Alison Baverstock Publisher: A & C Black ISBN: 0713679328
Invitation to a recording of Open Book
On 22nd August at 11 o'clock, we're recording a special edition of Open Book all about the Books industry. If you'd like to come along to the recording, at a central London Bookshop, please email us here
