Many literary judges have hailed contemporary American writers as persistently more ambitious than their parochial British cousins. So just what are the driving issues concerning the hot young writers across the Atlantic? As the New
Yorker magazine nominates its "20 under 40", Tim Marlow joins them to discuss the future of fiction. With contributions from Bill Buford , literary editor of the New Yorker, and extracts from a series of public readings by some of America's leading actors, including William Hurt. Producer Paul Quinn