Main content

Olivia Laing and Charlie Porter

Author and cultural critic Olivia Laing with fashion writer Charlie Porter and presenter Harriett Gilbert, on the books they love.

Author and cultural critic Olivia Laing, whose books include The Lonely City, Funny Weather and Everybody, is joined by fashion writer and curator Charlie Porter, of What Artists Wear and Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion, and presenter Harriett Gilbert, to talk about the books they love.

Olivia recommends Bad Blood by literary critic Lorna Sage - a memoir of her eccentric childhood and adolescence in 1940s rural Wales. Charlie loves Honey From A Weed by Patience Gray, a cookbook which exalts local knowledge and seasonal cooking, taking readers to a time and place far removed from modern life. And Harriett brings The English Understand Wool, a 2022 novella by American author Helen DeWitt, which takes unexpected twists and turns and which Harriett argues, merits reading more than once.

Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc
Produced by Eliza Lomas for 成人快手 Audio

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Thu 27 Jul 2023 11:30

Broadcasts

  • Tue 25 Jul 2023 16:30
  • Thu 27 Jul 2023 11:30

Books and Authors Podcast

Books and Authors Podcast

Open Book for author interviews and A Good Read for recommended reads

Listen now to books on 成人快手 Sounds

Listen now to books on 成人快手 Sounds

Escape with books & stories

Opening Lines

Opening Lines

John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

Books

Celebrating reading and the 100 novels that have shaped our world.

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

How many of these 100 Novels have you read?

After a passionate debate, our panel has come up with this surprising literary selection.