A series of one-off interviews, usually longer than normal, with some of our favourite Faber authors. Some have a great body of work to talk about, whilst others we capture on fleeting visits to the UK ...

Faber Authors Spotlight

A spoken word short story by Willy Vlautin, frontman of the band Richmond Fontaine, and author of the novels Lean on Pete, Northline and The Motel Life. 

The story features characters from Lean on Pete, and music by Richmond Fontaine. 

A Motorcycle for a Horse by Willy Vlautin

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was the long-awaited first novel from one of today’s most original and electrifying literary voices, Junot Diaz. The book was published early in 2008, which is when we were lucky enough to welcome Junot to the Faber offices, and when he gave this great interview.

Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

In this extended interview, Sebastian Barry speaks about the many histories of Ireland and, even closer to home, remnants of his own family history to be found in his new book The Secret Scripture in the fictional shape of Roseanne McNulty, one of the novel's two narrators, confined to an asylum for sixty years.  
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Sebastian Barry: The Secret Scripture

In a special two-part interview, George Miller talks to Kazuo Ishiguro about his new book Nocturnes, a collection of longish short stories with related themes of music and night, and ambition and disappointment. Under discussion are the challenges of writing in an unfamiliar form, and Ishiguro's approach to writing comedy. Here's the second part of the interview: https://soundcloud.com/faberbooks/kazuo-ishiguro-on-the-remains.

Kazuo Ishiguro: On Nocturnes and Other Books (Part 1)

In part two of our interview we discuss Kazuo Ishiguro's earlier books, including the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day and The Unconsoled, which on publication baffled critics but is now viewed as one of the author's greatest achievements. There's discussion too of Ishiguro's childhood and memories of Japan, and what he's working on next. Here's part one of our interview: http://soundcloud.com/faberbooks/kazuo-ishiguro-on-nocturnes.

Kazuo Ishiguro: On The Remains of the Day and Other Books (Part 2)

The author of several previous novels, Steve Sem-Sandberg has achieved international acclaim for his detailed, vivid and profoundly affecting portrait of the ghetto in the Polish city of Lodz in 'The Emperor of Lies'.Sebastian Barry called the book ‘monumental’; Carmen Callil compared his achievement in bringing a whole society to life to Dickens. It's an extraordinary work of fiction, and we were delighted to get the chance to have the author tell us more.


Steve Sem-Sandberg: The Emperor of Lies

It's 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been blissfully married for six years. But a murderer in their midst has other ideas ... 'Death Comes to Pemberley' is a brilliant new 'sequel' to Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' - but one with a deadly twist. In this extended interview, P. D. James shares her appreciation for Austen, and discusses the challenge of taking such a beloved work of fiction in a wholly unexpected direction ... 
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P. D. James: Death Comes to Pemberley

Why is gaslighting 'gaslighting'? What do bodily fluids have to do with personality traits? Why does 'cataract' mean a waterfall and an eye condition? And do doctors really say 'Stat!' or is that just in ER?

To round off 2016, here's the bonus edition of The Allusionist, featuring listeners' etymology requests and extra material from guests who've appeared on the show this year. For links and more information about the episode, visit http://theallusionist.org/bonus2016.

The show will return in early February. Meanwhile, catch up on the back catalogue at http://theallusionist.org, and stay in touch at http://facebook.com/allusionistshow and http://twitter.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm from http://PRX.org.

The Allusionist

Allusionist 49: Bonus 2016

In a special edition recorded earlier this year live at the Durham Book Festival, John and Andy are joined by writers Adele Stripe and Ben Myers to discuss Gordon Burn's debut novel Alma Cogan. The 'WHWBR?' slots are occupied by Pevsner's guide to Durham and The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)
2'45 - County Durham Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England by Roberts, Martin, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Williamson, Elizabeth
10'35 - The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
16'26 - Alma Cogan by Gordon Burn

* To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.
* For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm
*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

Alma Cogan by Gordon Burn

From the frontline of cutting-edge scientific research, Professor Robin Dunbar's new book 'The Science of Love and Betrayal' is a brilliant and sparkling exploration of the extraordinary nature of romantic love. The book tackles some of the most fundamental questions of human behaviour, including - why do we as a species pairbond when few other mammals do? What are the evolutionary advantages of monogamy over promiscuity? And much more.

Robin Dunbar: The Science of Love and Betrayal

Cloudness

Faber and Faber is one of the great independent publishing houses in London. We were established in 1929 by Geoffrey Faber and our first editor was T. S. Eliot. We are proud to publish prize-winning fiction and non-fiction, as well as an unrivalled list of modern poets and playwrights. Among our list of writers we have five Booker Prize winners and twelve Nobel Laureates, and we continue to seek out the most exciting and innovative writers at work today. 

Steve Sem-Sandberg: The Emperor of Lies

FaberBooks

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