The podcast produced by Slightly Foxed magazine mentioned in a previous post has now been posted. Here’s the link. Alexander Waugh and Selina Hastings are the guest panelists. A summary and cites to mentions of several works by and about Waugh are also posted:
The great prose stylist of the 20th century, monster, performer? Biographer and literary journalist Selina Hastings and writer and critic Alexander Waugh reveal the many reputations of Evelyn Waugh with the Slightly Foxed editors. From a pathological fear of boredom, hallucinations provoked by doses of bromide and cheques bouncing at the Ritz to his relationships conducted through letters, his genius for sharp satire and love of gossip, the conversation brings to light the darkness and humour of Waugh’s works. And we visit The Loved One’s Whispering Glades in this month’s reading from the magazine’s archives.
Please find links to books, articles, and further reading listed below. The digits in brackets following each listing refer to the minute and second they are mentioned. (Episode duration: 45 minutes; 21 seconds)
Books Mentioned
Please note that while many titles by other publishers are available to buy from the Slightly Foxed shop, we will not be able to order them from our distributor and send them out to readers until the office reopens. We may be able to find second-hand copies of the out-of-print titles listed below. Please get in touch with Anna for more information.Books by Evelyn Waugh
– The Sword of Honour trilogy: Men at Arms, Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender (3:14)
– Put out More Flags is out of print (3:53)
– Decline and Fall (11:48)
– Scoop (18:44)
– A Handful of Dust (21:50)
– Brideshead Revisited (22:58)
– The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold is out of print (27:09)
– The Loved One (32:35)Other Books
– The Carey Novels by Ronald Welch, Slightly Foxed Cubs editions (1:46)
– Evelyn Waugh: A Biography, Selina Hastings is out of print (2:40)
– Fathers and Sons: The Autobiography of a Family, Alexander Waugh is out of print (2:47)
– A Russian Journal, John Steinbeck with photographs by Robert Capa (40:37)
– The Singapore Grip, J. G. Farrell (41:40)
– Shakespeare’s Unorthodox Biography, Diana Price is out of print (42:27)
– Zoo Station, David Downing is out of print (44:02)Related Slightly Foxed Articles
– The Tortoise of Total War, Anthony Gardner on the Sword of Honour trilogy in Issue 36 (3:14)
– Race of Ghosts, Patrick Denman Flanery on Put out More Flags in Issue 9 (3:53)
– Portrait of the Artist in Middle Age, William Palmer on The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold in Issue 65 (27:09)
– Waugh on the Warpath, Ranjit Bolt on The Loved One in Issue 46 (32:35)
The program begins with a wide-ranging discussion among the four panelists of several of Waugh’s books as well as aspects of his character. This goes on for about 1/2 hour and is the most interesting part of the presentation. Mention is made of an article about The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold in the current issue of the magazine (#65). This is by William Palmer who is finishing up a new book entitled In Love With Hell which is about 20c alcoholic writers. There follow two regular features. The first is a reading from the Slightly Foxed archive. In this case, they select a June 2015 article by playwright and translator Ranjit Bolt about The Loved One. This is an interesting summary of a book that was not a topic of the panel discussion. But beware of several references to a character named “Derick”. I was distracted by this several times as I wracked my memory for who this may be. But after about about 5 references, it turns out the reader is talking about “Dennis” Barlow. Since the article is behind a paywall I could not determine whether this was the fault of the reader or the author of the article. In the final segment each of the panelists is invited to recommend a book. The most notable suggestion was Selina Hasting’s recommendation of J G Farrell’s novel The Singapore Grip which I have been meaning to reread if I can ever locate my copy. I think a TV adaptation may be about to appear on ITV–at least such was their promise earlier in the season.
UPDATE (15 April 2020): Some details of the program were added in a final paragraph.
