Garth Greenwell

Available for over a year

Garth Greenwell talks to Mariella Frostrup about his new book Cleanness, the successor to his award winning debut What Belongs To You. Neither a collection of short stories, nor a traditional novel, the book follows the life of a gay American teacher living in Sofia. It chronicles his loving relationship with his partner, R, which is juxtaposed with two stories of anonymous and extreme sexual encounters. Garth talks to Mariella about his belief in literature to connect people, and to explore and give meaning to every aspect of our lives. Also on the programme, Richard Kelly launches a new series of introductions to some of our great classics texts, to with a guide to the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Mariella is joined by Ann Patchett to talk about Bel Canto, which Mariella has chosen as her re-read during lockdown and, continuing our shelf isolation series, critic Alex Clark suggests some other books which, like Bel Canto, feature closed communities and heartwarming themes.