A Good Read: Joe Dunthorne and Iszi Lawrence
Books and Authors
BBC
4.2 • 824 Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind, translated by John E. Woods, chosen by Iszi Lawrence Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles, chosen by Joe Dunthorne Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert
Historical fiction author and broadcaster Iszi Lawrence adores the sensational novel Perfume, and has done since she was a teenager. For her, it immerses her in another world and is wonderfully cynical about the futility of chasing ultimate fulfilment through creating art and performing to a crowd.
The poet and novelist, author of Submarine, Joe Dunthorne chooses the forgotten cult classic Two Serious Ladies. It makes him happy because every sentence is a surprise, and that makes him want to write. But he admits that it's not for everyone.
And Harriett's choice is Oh William! by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout. Which prompts the discussion, can you love a book if you loathe the central character?
Produced by Beth O'Dea for BBC Audio Bristol Follow us on instagram: agoodreadbbc
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I want to tell you why I love podcasting. |
| 0:04.7 | Hi, my name's Tommy Dixon, and I make podcasts for the BBC. |
| 0:08.4 | I'm a big fan of stories, always loved a good book. |
| 0:11.4 | But when I started commuting for my first job, I discovered podcasts. |
| 0:15.4 | I was blown away by how a creative idea and the right mixture of sounds could take you into |
| 0:19.2 | a whole new world full of incredible stories. You know, the type that make you go, wow. And that kind of inspired me to |
| 0:25.2 | give it a go myself, which to cut a long story short led to a BBC training scheme and a whole |
| 0:30.0 | new career giving other people that exact same feeling. So if you want to hear amazing stories |
| 0:34.2 | that make you go wow like I did, they're just a tap or click away on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.8 | BBC Sounds Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:45.1 | Hello, I'm Harriet Gilbert. Thank you for downloading a good read, the podcasts, where two guests and I recommend books we love and describe why we love them. |
| 0:54.3 | We don't always see eye to eye, but I hope you'll find some great reading suggestions here. |
| 0:59.5 | You love books? Great. So do we. And each of us has chosen one we'd especially like to recommend, |
| 1:06.0 | though whether or not we share one another's taste is a different matter. With me today are two |
| 1:10.5 | writers. Joe Dunthorne is a different matter. With me today are two writers. |
| 1:11.3 | Joe Dunthorne is a poet and the author of three novels, including Submarine, |
| 1:16.1 | which was made into a film by Richard Ayawadi. |
| 1:18.9 | His latest book, a family memoir called Children of Radium, comes out in April. |
| 1:24.2 | With Joe is the author, comedian and podcaster Izzy Lawrence, best known on Radio |
| 1:29.2 | 4 for co-presenting Making History with Tom Holland and Your Place or Mine with Sean Kevney. |
| 1:36.2 | Izzy's many historical novels for children include most recently The Cursed Tomb out just last |
| 1:42.5 | month. Issy, would you start us off? What are you suggesting as a good read? |
... |
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