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Percival Everett

Michael Berkeley's guest is the American writer Percival Everett.

The American writer Percival Everett is enjoying a moment in the spotlight: his novel The Trees was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022; an earlier book, Erasure, was adapted into the recent Oscar-winning film American Fiction; and his latest novel, James, is already a best-seller in the United States. It’s a powerful re-telling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, from the perspective of Huck’s enslaved friend Jim.

In the past four decades he's published two dozen novels, and another dozen books of stories and poetry, but he's just as happy away from the world of literature, fly-fishing or painting. He's also worked as a horse trainer, a cowboy and a jazz guitarist. Jazz and blues feature among the music he shares with us, along with Dvorak, Schoenberg, Gustav Holst’s The Planets.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Sun 5 May 2024 12:00

Music Played

  • Gustav Holst

    The Planets Suite, Op. 32: I. Mars

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski.
    • Holst: The Planets.
    • London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • 101.
  • Charles Mingus

    Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

    Performer: Charles Mingus.
    • Ah Um.
    • Red Cab Records.
    • 5.
  • Robert Johnson

    Kind Hearted Woman Blues

    Singer: Robert Johnson.
    • The Centennial Collection.
    • Columbia/Legacy.
    • 1.
  • AntonΓ­n DvoΕ™Γ‘k

    Symphony No.9 in E minor "From the New World" (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra. Conductor: Kevin John Edusei.
    • DvoΕ™Γ‘k: Symphony No. 9 'From the New World' / Sibelius: Finlandia.
    • Signum Records.
    • 2.
  • Lyle Lovett

    I Will Rise Up / Ain't No More Cane

    Ensemble: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band.
    • It's Not Big It's Large.
    • Humphead Records.
    • 2.
  • Lorenzo Barcelata

    Maria Elena

    Performer: Ry Cooder.
    • The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO Has Landed.
    • Rhino/Warner Records.
    • 16.
  • Richard Rodgers

    My Favorite Things (Stereo)

    Performer: John Coltrane.
    • My Favorite Things (2022 Remaster).
    • Rhino Atlantic.
    • 5.
  • Arnold Schoenberg

    Verklarte Nacht (conclusion)

    Performer: Isabelle Faust. Performer: Anne Katharina Schreiber. Performer: Antoine Tamestit. Performer: Danusha Waskiewicz. Performer: Christian PoltΓ©ra. Performer: Jean‐Guihen Queyras.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Lightnin’ Hopkins

    Mojo Hand

    Singer: Lightnin’ Hopkins.
    • Mojo Hand (Acapella).
    • Cleopatra Records.
    • 1.
  • Franz Schubert

    4 Impromptus for piano; No.1 in C minor

    Performer: Maria JoΓ£o Pires.
    • DG.

Broadcast

  • Sun 5 May 2024 12:00

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