Jesuit-shaman sex on the eastern steppes of Mongolia. It may sound like an aberration from The Commissioning Meeting (see below) but no, it’s a real book, and a promising candidate for this year’s Bad Sex Award.  This year’s finalists include Paul Theroux, Nick Cave, Philip Roth and Amos Oz.  But what is it about sex that makes it so exquisitely difficult (we didn’t say hard) for  writers to write about?  Tonight, our bold panel fearlessly takes the bull by the horns.

Joining Donna Ballman from Florida is Dave Bartram from England’s West Country, Eve Harvey from Edinburgh and our very special guest, author and publishing trade maven, Graham Marks.

Topics covered on tonight’s show and links include:

• Why the BBC banned Enid Blyton for nearly 30 years
• Desperate for Xmas presents? Then give a pointless £20 to reduce Britain’s national debt
• Two trillion electronvolts by Christmas: the collider has started
• Britain’s nanny state goes insane with nosiness
• The power of stereotypes
• Brace yourself, it’s the Google Books Settlement again
• The death of meaning
• The bad sex award nominees

This week’s titles for the Commissioning Meeting are:

DONNA
“The Parenticide Club”
Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1914?

GRAHAM
“Prince Vance – The Story of a Prince with a Court in His Box”
Eleanor Putnam, 1856-1886

EVE
“Phebe, Her Profession – A Sequel to Teddy: Her Book”
Anna Chapin Ray, 1865-1945

DAVE
“Poppa Needs Shorts”
Leigh Richmond, 1911-1996, Illustrated by John Schoenherr, 1935-

Just a few days now until the results are announced for this years’s Golden Twits Awards – Litopia is shortlisted in three categories – we’ll be podcasting from the event! (PS – you are following us, aren’t you?)

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