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Open Book

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books

Programme looking at new fiction and non-fiction books, talking to authors and publishers and unearthing lost classics

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Open Book: Open Book marks the 50th anniversary of Catch 22 and the role of the writer-in-residence

25/09/2011

Open Book marks the 50th anniversary of Catch 22 and the role of the writer-in-residence

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, Open Book marks the 50th anniversary of Catch 22 and the role of the writer-in-residence

Mariella Frostrup celebrates books, authors and the world of the written word.

With Mariella Frostrup. Open Book marks the 50th anniversary of Catch 22, the role of the writer-in-residence and the future of literary apps.

Open Book marks the 50th anniversary of Joseph Heller's bestseller Catch 22, the story of Captain John Yassarian, a bombardier stationed in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy during the last months of the second World War. Yossarian is furious because thousands of people he's never met keep trying to kill him and his attempts to survive by claiming to be mad are thwarted by the eponymous Catch 22 - anyone rational enough to want to be grounded could never be insane and therefore must return to their perilous duties. Soldier turned author Andy McNab and Professor Christopher Bigsby discuss why this 1961 book about the madness of war remains so popular and examine Heller's subsequent lesser remembered novels. 

Many writers dreams of escaping the distractions of everyday life in order to concentrate on their work, or to be immersed in different cultural experiences to encourage their creative juices. An increasing number of organisations have responded to that need by creating the role of a writer in residence. Mariella Frostrup explores what these organisations, the writers and ultimately the readers, get out of the arrangement, with Horatio Clare, writer-in-residence for Maersk lines and Naomi Alderman, who has just done the role for the W hotel in central London and soon to be writer-in-residence at the Gladstone Library.

On the programme a couple of weeks ago we talked to the literary agent Carole Blake about some of the literary apps currently available. To respond to your feedback and outline what the publishing industry has in store for us in the future Mariella is joined by Dan Franklin, Digital Editor at The Random House Group, Philip Jones, dept Editor of the Bookseller and Henry Volans, Head of Digital at Faber

Producer: Andrea Kidd.

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