Take Four Books

Sir Salman Rushdie speaks to Take Four Books about his new collection of short fiction and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other literary works. Arguably one of the world’s most celebrated authors, the publication of Sir Salman's second novel in 1981 announced the arrival of a phenomenal talent. Midnight's Children went on to win not just the Booker Prize but it was also picked as the Best Booker for the prize’s 25th and 40th anniversaries. In his latest work - The Eleventh Hour - Sir Salman showcases a quintet of stories that mix narratives of revenge, ghosts and magic into poignant reckonings with mortality.

For his three influences Sir Salman chose: E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India from 1924; Franz Kafka’s Amerika from 1927; and Robert Browning’s The Pied Piper of Hamelin from 1842.

Producer: Dominic Howell Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

Presenter James Crawford speaks to bestselling crime writer and Norwegian novelist Jo Nesbø about his book, Wolf Hour - a standalone thriller set in Minneapolis, where a dysfunctional detective, Bob Oz, investigates the attempted murder of a crooked gun dealer. The three books that inspired Jo while writing Wolf Hour were: Hunger by Knut Hamsun (1890), The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (1952), and American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis (1991).

Producers: Rachael O’Neill & Hayley Jarvis Editor: Gillian Wheelan This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.

International bestseller Sir Alexander McCall Smith joines James Crawford to discuss The Private Side of Friendship, and shares the literary works that influenced it.

After the acclaim of his his The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Sandy has written over a hundred books, selling tens of millions of copies in English alone – not to mention the 46 other languages in which his work has appeared. In his latest novel, he is taking readers to a city he knows very well, as six young Edinburgh students embark on a flatshare, and navigate new friendships, against the backdrop of the social unrest of the 1980s miners’ strikes.

For his three influences Sandy chose: The More Loving One by W.H. Auden (1957), Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships by Robin Dunbar (2021), and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2011).

Including an extract from the audiobook of Friends by Robin Dunbar, published by Hachette.

Producer: Caitlin Sneddon Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.