Walt Whitman 's Leaves of Grass has been said to define and embody the American soul. Patrick Wright discusses a major new study of the poet's life and work and explores how his writing - condemned in his lifetime as "dirty" - shaped the course of American literature. He also talks to one of America's acclaimed contemporary writers - poet and novelist Paul Auster. Plus news from tonight's opening of Tom Stoppard 's The Real Thing, with Stephen Dillane , Jennifer Ehle and Nigel Lindsay.
Producer Julian May