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Capturing America: Mark Lawson's History of Modern American Literature

Robyn Read

Capturing America: Mark Lawson's History of Modern American Literature: Episode 1: Fighters and Writers

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Fighters and Writers

Episode 1

Episode 1: Fighters and Writers

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How a group of young writers returning from WWII turned the US into a literary superpower.

Mark Lawson traces how a group of young Americans back from World War II turned the US into a literary superpower. From November 2010.

Mark Lawson tells the story of how American writing became the literary superpower of the 20th century, telling the nation's stories of money, power, sex, religion and war.

Mark traces the way a group of young Americans returning from WWII turned the US into a literary superpower. 

Contributors include Philip Roth, Toni Morrison and Edward Albee as well as Norman Mailer, John Updike and Kurt Vonnegut, the last three recorded in the final major interviews of their lives. 

Drawing on interviews with dozens of key writers and critics, Mark Lawson examines the role of authors in capturing the nature of the US and explores the successes and controversies of America's literary output. He shows how differences of race, region and gender informed and expanded the stories being told. And he nominates his candidate for the title of the most unfairly neglected great American novelist.

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Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Mark Lawson tells the story of the rise of American writing in the 20th century

Mark Lawson tells the story of how American writing became the literary superpower of the 20th century, telling the nation's stories of money, power, sex, religion and war

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