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John McCarthy considers the complexities in giving and receiving gifts. Shopping for a present, he reflects on the joy, disappointment, surprise and manipulation gifts can bring.

John McCarthy considers the complexities in giving and receiving gifts.

As he shops for a present for a relation he hasn't seen for a while, John reflects on the dance of gifting. He explores ways in which gifts can create unanticipated jealousies. They can so often reflect the taste of the giver rather than the recipient and sometimes giving can be manipulative.

The shopping trip brings back memories of a surprise gift John's father once brought home from a business trip, and he remembers his nephew's intense disappointment at not getting the present he wished for from his grandmother. All of which raises the knotty subject of how to receive a gift graciously.

The programme includes readings from works by EM Forster, Eva Ibbotson, Kim Addonizio and Brian Patten. And there's music by Wagner, Chris Wood, Jim Croce and Cesar Franck.

Readers: Rachel Atkins and Fraser James

Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Whistledown production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 26 Feb 2023 23:30
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Readings

    • Howards End by E.M Forster

      Reading: Howards End Published by: Peters Fraser Dunlop

    • One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson

      Published by: Marion Lloyd Books ISBN-13: 978-1407124247

    • What Do Women Want? - Kim Addonizio

      Collection: Tell Me Published by: BOA Editions Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1880238912

    • Good Gifts - Dorothy Nimmo

      Collection: The Wig Box – New and Selected Poems ISBN-13: 978-1902382241

    • Gift - Tamim al-Barghouti

      Translation: Radwa Ashour

    • A Blade of Grass - Brian Patten

      Collection: Love Poems Published by: Harper Collins ISBN-13: 978-0007246496

  • Music

    • Richard Wagner

      Siegfried Idyll

      • Wagner Preludes and Overtures.
      • Teldec 3984242242.
      • 7.

    • Jim Croce

      Time in a Bottle

      Performer: Jim Croce.
      • Photographs and Memories.
      • 5.

    • Louise Jordan

      I Will Give My Love an Apple

      • Born to Wander.
      • Ski Records.

    • Giacomo Carissimi

      Mourn Children of Israel from Jeptha

      Performer: Gabrieli Consort & Players.
      • Meridian Records.

    • CΓ©sar Franck

      Cesar Frank's Violin Sonata

      Performer: Joshua Bell. Performer: Jeremy Denk.
      • French Impressions.
      • Sony Classical.
      • 88697891822.
      • 8.

    • Chris Wood

      One in a Million

      Lyricist: Hugh Lupton.
      • Lark Descending.
      • R.U.F Records.
      • 5.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 16 Mar 2014 06:05
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Sun 16 Mar 2014 23:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Sun 26 Feb 2023 06:05
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Sun 26 Feb 2023 23:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4