A Good Read: Donna Leon and Margaret Heffernan

Books and Authors

BBC

Society & Culture, Books

4.2 • 824 Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The author of the Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery series, Donna Leon, is joined by writer-entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan and the presenter Harriett Gilbert.

Donna has chosen a book by an author she greatly admires, Ross MacDonald, who she read before she became a writer herself. His 1971 noir novel, The Underground Man, follows a detective as he tries to track down a missing child, whilst a mysterious fire rages through the hills of Southern California. Margaret loves Butcher's Crossing, the lesser-known book by John Williams, the author of Stoner. Set in 1871, this is about a young Harvard drop-out who heads out into the American West to discover a new way of living and which Margaret describes as an 'anti-Western' novel. Meanwhile Harriett's choice is A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam, which follows a mother's struggle to protect her children as Bangladesh fights for independence.

Produced by Eliza Lomas. Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.2	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:39.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:43.6	Hello, I'm Harriet Gilbert.
0:45.5	Thank you for downloading a good read, the podcast,
0:48.5	where two guests and I recommend books we love and describe why we love them.
0:52.9	We don't always see eye to eye, but I hope you'll find
0:55.1	some great reading suggestions here. With me today, Donna Leon, author of the best-selling
1:00.3	commissario Brunetti detective novels and one of the Times 50 greatest crime writers. Her 32nd
1:06.7	Brunetti novel, So Shall You Reap, has just been published.
1:13.5	With Donna, the writer and entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan,
1:17.9	author of six books about work, how we think, and the role of the imagination.
1:22.6	Her play, The Shell 7, was broadcast on Radio 4 last year.
1:25.5	Donna, Leon, would you start us off?
1:27.0	What have you chosen as a good read?
1:33.8	I've chosen The Underground Man by Ross MacDonald because I like it. I've always liked it.
1:40.5	I read it first, it seems, 212 years ago. I read it when I was in graduate school.
	...

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