Culture Chat: Margaret Atwood, John Grisham and friends write a novel

In this episode we’re discussing the new novel Fourteen Days. The book is a collaboration by 36 authors including Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, Celeste Ng, RL Stine, and Dave Eggers – and part of the experience is guessing who wrote which part. So does the premise work as a novel? What do we want from experimental fiction? And are we ready to revisit the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which the action is set? Lilah is joined by the FT’s acting deputy books editor Andrew Dickson and assistant arts editor Rebecca Watson, author of the novel Little Scratch.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): 

– Fourteen Days, edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston, is out now where books are sold. 

– The FT’s review of Fourteen Days is here: https://on.ft.com/4bCdRFD 

– Rebecca’s novel is called Little Scratch (2021). Her second novel I Will Crash comes out on July 4th.

– Andy recommends novels by Sheila Heti and Jon Fosse for their experimental prose. 

– Andy is on X, formerly Twitter, @andydickson. Rebecca is @rebeccawhatsun

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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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