Our guest on this episode Richard Ford is one of the masters of American literary fiction. Frequently compared to Updike, Faulkner and Hemingway; he's the author of The Sportswriter, Let Me Be Frank With You, and the Pulitzer Prize winning Independence Day - all of which chart the life of his imperfect everyman Frank Bascombe.

Ford's new novel Be Mine is the last of the Frank Bascombe books and finds his protagonist in his later years embarking on a trip to Mt Rushmore with his terminally ill son.

In this conversation with Esme Bright, Ford reflects on the responsibility of the writer, the politics of language and the prospect of happiness in an imperfect world.

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Richard Ford - A Life in Literature