Front Row - 06/10/2008

Presented by Mark Lawson. Comedian Frank Skinner talks to Mark about his return to stand-up, how he puts his act together and finding time for art and religion while on tour. American writer and academic Diane Roberts reviews a novel inspired by certain events in the life of Laura Bush. American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld, is the story of a private, self-conscious girl who grows up to find herself thrust in to the public glare and forced to face her past. In a break from routine, Michael Parkinson takes to the interviewee's chair to discuss why his father kidnapped his pregnant wife, his TV encounters with Mohammed Ali and why - only once - he didn't wear a suit when conducting an interview.