The Book That Changed Me: 20 Essays on Influential Literature

Part of BBC Radio 3's 'The Essay' strand, The Book That Changed Me features writers, academics and other eminent professionals discussing the literary works that have had the greatest impact on their lives. This fascinating selection contains some of the best episodes from the series, including legendary songwriter Steve Earle on Truman Capote's masterpiece In Cold Blood; academic Monica Siddiqui on Austen's Pride and Prejudice; and Tony Blair's onetime strategist Alastair Campbell on Flaubert's seminal Madame Bovary. Renowned film director Richard Eyre reveals how Angus Calder's social history The People's War evokes memories of his childhood; neurobiologist Colin Blakemore explains why he loves Darwin's lesser-known work, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals; visual artist Tacita Dean describes how Marguerite Yourcenair's Fires helped her find her voice as a writer, feminist and filmmaker; and David Simon, creator of TV's The Wire, relates how James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men made him realise the importance of reportage. Absorbing and enlightening, this entertaining collection sheds new light on the intellectual lives of a host of famous names, and celebrates the transformative power of literature. Production credits Produced by Smita Patel First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on the following dates: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell 14 March 2011 With Alan Johnston The Wrench by Primo Levi 15 March 2011 With Edmund de Waal The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin 17 March 2011 With Colin Blakemore Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 18 March 2011 With Mona Siddiqui Othello by William Shakespeare 25 October 2011 With Musa Okwonga David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 20 January 2014 With Alan Johnson In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 19 January 2015 With Steve Earle Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 20 January 2015 With Jude Kelly What a Carve-Up! by Jonathan Coe 21 January 2015 With Jon Ronson A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 22 January 2015 With Lolita Chakrabarti Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee 31 October 2016 With David Simon To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 1 November 2016 With Pauline Black The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X 2 November 2016 With Ben Anderson Fires by Marguerite Yourcenair 3 November 2016 With Tacita Dean The People's War by Sir Richard Eyre 4 November 2016 With Angus Calder Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys 2 April 2018 With Afua Hirsch War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 3 April 2018 With Henry Marsh The Arabian Nights translated by Richard Francis Burton 4 April 2018 With Zarah Hussain Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert 5 April 2018 With Alastair Campbell Pyramids by Terry Pratchett 6 April 2018 With Inua Ellams © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.