Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead speaks to Take Four Books about his novel, Cool Machine, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other works of fiction.
The New York writer and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Colson Whitehead, speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel, Cool Machine, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other books. In three interlinking stories, Cool Machine - the final installment in Colson's Harlem Trilogy - showcases the grit and grandeur of 1980s New York through its underground wheeler-dealer protagonist, Ray Carney, who runs a furniture business on 125th Street with a lucrative side hustle.
For his three influences Colson chose: Junkie by William Burroughs (1953); One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1967); and The Hunter by Richard Stark (1962). Richard Stark was the pen name of Donald Edwin Westlake.
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was an BBC Audio Scotland production.
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Take Four Books
James Crawford discusses an author's new book and its connections to three other works.
