
The Bookshelf Memoirs, Music, Mystery: new works from Sam Sussman, Sarah Hall, Margaret Atwood
Nov 27, 2025
54:15
Superstars of the literary and musical world this week: Margaret Atwood’s new memoir; Hannah Kent’s critical readings; Stuart Coupe’s musical knowledge; Bob Dylan . . . OK, well he’s not exactly on the show, but he’s the subject of MUCH literary speculation in a buzzy new release by New Yorker Sam Sussman. Also – the voice of the wind howls, laughs and taunts its subjects, in an inventive piece of writing from Sarah Hall.
BOOKS
- Sam Sussman, Boy from the North Country, Grove Press
- Sarah Hall, Helm, Faber
- Margaret Atwood, Books of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, Chatto & Windus
GUESTS
Hannah Kent, novelist and memoirist whose books include Burial Rites, The Good People, Devotion and – most recently - Always Home, Always Homesick: A Love Letter to Iceland
- Stuart Coupe, music writer and promoter whose books include Roadies: The Secret History of Australian Rock’n’ Roll; Shake Some Action: My Life In Music, (and Other Stuff); and – most recently – Saffron Incorporated: The First King Of King Of The Cross And Fifty Years Of Sex, Murder, Music And Mayhem
OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED
- The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, Niko Stratis
- Harley Loco, Rayya Elias
- Happy Doll series, Jonathan Ames
- All the Way to the River, Elizabeth Gilbert
- The History of Sound, Ben Shattuck
- Linea Maja Ernst, Waist Deep (translated by Sherilyn Hellberg)
- Deborah Levy, Hot Milk
- Heart the Lover, Lily King
- Bread of Angels, Patti Smith
CREDITS
- Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
- Producer, Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
- Sound engineer, Roi Hubermann and Harvey O'Sullivan
- Arts editor, Rhiannon Brown
