The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podgolomorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.

Hello, we start today with the description of a new novel.

Here it is, quote, Ralph Silverman was a foreign film buff, a victim of bullies, and a boy genius.

He held long conversations with his pet parakeet and spent countless hours on a computer,

creating mesmerizing music and solving problems in philosophy.

He was a friend of great scholars and the son of a wealthy outer-boro businessman with

shady associates and a secret second family.

And as he begins to take over the story from the narrator, Ralph finds himself in South Florida,

physically abused and expelled into a frightening world of the unhoused, with a broken pair of glasses, no money, and no shoes."

End quote, based on the real life story of Fred Wadeskin, author of Searching for Bobby Fisher, and his relationship with his childhood friend,

a genius who spent years living on the streets.

The book's narrative takes us into a complex and dramatic world.

I've seldom been so captivated by a book, says Tom Stoppard.

Tom Stoppard.

It is a captivating book and its author is a captivating man.

He joins us to discuss friendship and literature and the surprising turn that his writing process took for this

particular novel today on the history of literature. and War and Peace. My goodness, what a book, what a towering achievement and the BBC

production with Paul Dana has been an excellent companion for me as I make my way

through Tolstoy's War and Peace I think for the third time.

Paul Dana as Pierre and wonderful performances from Jillian Anderson and Brian Cox and Stephen Ray and Lily James and others too.

Highly recommended and the book itself.

Boy, it doesn't get better.

...