52. Shirley Jackson - We Have always lived in the castle

image.png

For our annual Halloween episode John and Andy are joined on the Backlisted podcast by Fiona Wilson and Andrew Male to discuss Shirley Jackson's final novel We Have Always Lived In The Castle, originally published in 1962. In this show's 'What We Have Been Reading' slot John discusses True Ghost Stories of Our Own Time by Vivienne Rae-Ellis, while Andy puts forward Going On The Turn, the third instalment of Danny Baker's memoirs.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

51. Virginia Woolf - Jacob's Room

image.png

In a special live edition of the Backlisted podcast, recorded in front of an audience at Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford, John and Andy are joined by Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time and Sally Bayley, author and tutor in English at Balliol and St. Hugh's Colleges, Oxford. The panel discuss Jacob's Room, the third novel by Virginia Woolf, first published in 1922.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

50. William Goldman - Adventures in the Screen Trade

image.png

Simon Garfield, author of The Wrestling, The Nation's Favourite and A Notable Woman, amongst others joins John and Andy on the Backlisted podcast to discuss William Goldman's groundbreaking account of his life as a Hollywood screenwriter.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

49. Anita Brookner - Look At Me

image.png

In a long awaited episode of the Backlisted podcast John and Andy are joined by Una McCormack and Lucy Scholes to discuss Anita Brookner's third novel Look At Me (1982), a tale of intergalactic piracy in a far off star syste... No, not really.

The Cake And The Rain, Jimmy Webb's memoir of life in the 60's music industry, and We That Are Young a reworking of King Lear set in India by Preti Taneja, are the books John & Andy have been reading.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

48. Malcolm Lowry - Under the Volcano

image.png

John and Andy are joined on the Backlisted podcast by poet, radio presenter, playwright and genuine Tyke Ian McMillan to discuss Malcolm Lowry's 1947 masterwork, Under The Volcano. Also, The Factory of Light by Michael Jacobs, and more Rosemary Tonks. Do you have a problem with that?

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

47. Some Bits to Listen to While We Go on Our Holidays

Even your favourite podcasts need to take a holiday... but hopefully this collection of Backlisted off cuts, tall tales, terrible name dropping and the occasional bit of literary chat will help tide you over until we return at the beginning of September.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

 

46. Paula Fox - Desperate Characters

image.png

Author William Fiennes joins Andy and John on the Backlisted podcast to talk about Desperate Characters, Paula Fox's New York-set novel of relationships and feral cats. Also; William's First Story charity, Adam Scovell's Folk Horror and Sarah Hall's story collection Madame Zero, plus more on the mysterious Rosemary Tonks.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

45. Anita Loos - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

image.png

The novelist Joanna Walsh and critic and academic Sarah Churchwell join John & Andy on the Backlisted podcast to talk about Anita Loos' Jazz Age novel. Also discussed: The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, and Bedouin of the London Evening, an anthology of poems by Rosemary Tonks.

Books mentioned:

Other links:

Embed Block
Add an embed URL or code. Learn more

44. Charles Sprawson - Haunts of the Black Massuer

image.png

Author and critic Alex Preston and Rachael Kerr, Unbound's Editor at large, join John and Andy on the Backlisted podcast to discuss Charles Sprawson's ground breaking 'Haunts Of The Black Masseur', together with all things aquatic. The subtitle of the book is 'The Swimmer As Hero' and Sprawson's book tells the tale of literary swimmers from Byron to Cheever. Also discussed; Outskirts by John Grindrod and Bleaker House by Nell Stevens.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

43. Edmund Gosse - Father and Son

image.png

Sarah Perry, bestselling author of The Essex Serpent, joins John and Andy on the Backlisted podcast to discuss Edmund Gosse's account of growing up the son of a widowed Victorian fundementalist preacher. The trio also talk about Attrib. and Other Stories by Eley Williams, and Spanish Crossings, the second novel by John Simmons.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

42. Crystal Zevon - I'll Sleep when I'm dead

image.png

Author and editor Richard T. Kelly joins John and Andy in the Backlisted studio to discuss I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life And Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon. They also discuss the art of the oral history, and run through some of their favourites, including Simon Garfield's The Wrestling and Edie - An American Biography by Jean Stein.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

41. James Baldwin - Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone

image.png

Novelist Niven Govinden joins John and Andy on the Backlisted podcast to discuss James Baldwin's 1968 novel Tell Me How Long The Train's Been Gone. Also discussed: The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay, and The Gallows Pole by Ben Myers. Oh, and Lissa Evans' scene stealing turn in Their Finest, the film adaptation of her WWII novel, Their Finest Hour & A Half.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

40. Vladimir Nabakov - The Gift

image.png

Writer and critic Catherine Taylor joins John and Andy on the Backlisted podcast to discuss Vladimir Nabokov's parting love letter to Russia and it's literature, The Gift, first published in English in 1963. Also; singing with nightingales and reading Richard Mabey's book about the same bird, David Storey's Booker Prize winning Saville, and Bob Dylan's song and dance routine.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

39. Patrick Modiano - Honeymoon

image.png

Novelist Rupert Thomson joins John & Andy on the Backlisted podcast to talk about the work of French author Patrick Modiano, who's work explores the effect of the German occupation of his homeland during the Second World War. There's also a special edition of 'What I've Read This Week', where John talks about Identity of England by Robert Colls, while Andy sets a bit of a puzzle...

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

38. ROSAMOND LEHMANN - The Weather in the Streets

image.png

Novelist and features writer Elizabeth Day joins John & Andy on the Backlisted podcast to discuss Rosamond Lehmann's 1936 novel of a young woman's affair with a married man. Also featured: Magnus Mills record store day novel The Forensic Record Society 
and Clover Stroud's memoir The Wild Other.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

37. Patrick Hamilton - Extra Episode

Following on from the Slaves Of Solitude episode, here is an extra half hour of conversation on the Backlisted podcast about Patrick Hamilton. Please listen the the main episode before this one.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

36. Patrick Hamilton - Slaves Of Solitude

image.png

Novelists Lissa Evans and Stuart Evers join Andy & John on the Backlisted podcast to discuss Patrick Hamilton's 1947 tale of boarding-house life in wartime. Also, this week Andy has been reading Keith Waterhouse, while John talks about Padgett Powell's The Interrogative Mood. If you like this episode, the 'Hamilton Extra' edition continues the discussion, with even more gin & it...

Books mentioned:

Other links:

35. Lincoln in the Bardo (minicast)

image.png

A little something extra for you, the lovely Backlisted listeners, and a departure from our usual subject matter - a new(ish) book! After recording the upcoming show on Patrick Hamilton's The Slaves Of Solitude with guests authors Lissa Evans and Stuart Evers, John & Andy took the opportunity to ask them what they thought of George Saunders' debut novel (which went on to win the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction). Normal service will be resumed next week.

Books Mentioned:

34. James Salter - A Sport and a Pastime

image.png

Andy & John are joined on the Backlisted podcast by literary agent Claire Conville and writer and author Rowan Pelling to discuss James Salter's 1967 novel of lust and imagination. The book, a description of an affair between an American college drop out and a French shop girl, has been acclaimed by critics as 'nearly perfect' and 'extraordinary'.

Books Mentioned:

Other Links:

33. Brigid Brophy - The Snow Ball