In our first episode, our hosts – author and critic Jo Hamya and broadcaster and critic James Walton – get to know each other by discussing their favourite books from the Booker Library – the name we give to all the books that have been nominated for (or won!) the International Booker Prize and Booker Prize over the last 50-odd years.

This episode contains significant plot details.

In this episode Jo and James talk about:

1. Why No One is Talking About This, a novel that captures our deep entanglement with the internet through its blend of laugh-out-loud humour and beautifully-observed prose, could have won the 2021 Booker Prize.
2. Why Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy’ a 1992 Booker shortlistee that follows a young man's descent into madness in small-town Ireland, isn't a virtuous read but it is one that will blow your socks off.

Books discussed in this episode:

1. Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood
2. No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
3. Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler
4. The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe

Further reading:

1. A Q&A with Patricia Lockwood

A full transcript of the conversation is available on our website here.

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