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Hello, as the evening's draw in, what could be nicer than a spot of reading aloud.

Later we'll be discussing the joys of communal storytelling.

But first, last month, saw the American writer George Saunders win the Man Booker Prize with his playful

Lincoln in the Bardot, well worth adding to your Christmas stocking list if you haven't read

it already.

The year before the accolade went to Paul Beatt for the sellout, a satirical look at contemporary

American life, which makes it two stateside winners in the three years since they've

been permitted entry to our foremost literary competition.

So why are we so entranced by our transatlantic cousins?

Are we suffering from a literary cultural cringe that penalises homegrown talent?

Or is our veneration of the Great American novel justified?

Joining me to discuss it is Benjamin Markowitz,

whose most recent novel, You Don't Have to Live Like This,

was set in modern-day Detroit,

and also by best-selling novelist, journalist, and literary critics,

...