Open Book

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BBC Radio 4 LW

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: Jonathan Coe, Radical Fairy Tales, Alex Wheatle

15/11/2020

Jonathan Coe, Radical Fairy Tales, Alex Wheatle

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, Jonathan Coe, Radical Fairy Tales, Alex Wheatle

Chris Power talks to Jonathan Coe about bringing Billy Wilder to life in his new novel.

Chris Power talks to Jonathan Coe about bringing actor Billy Wilder to life in new novel Mr Wilder & Me. Also Kamila Shamsie on reclaiming fairy tales and Alex Wheatle on CLR James.

Chris Power talks to author of What A Carve Up! and The Rotters Club, Jonathan Coe. In his new novel, Mr Wilder & Me, Coe explores the later life of Hollywood star Billy Wilder, exploring the twilight of his career shooting the film Fedora.

Classic chlidren's stories have been subverted in recent books such as  Gender Swapped Fairy Tales by Karrie Fransman and Jonathan Plackett. Having also revisited a fairy tale in "Duckling", Kamila Shamsie discusses the enduring pitfalls and power of the form.

And writer Alex Wheatle chooses A Book I'd Never Lend - CLR James' landmark history of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins.

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Jonathan Coe, Radical Fairy Tales, Alex Wheatle

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