Open Book - 13/12/2009

Mariella Frostrup talks to Colum McCann about his new novel Let The Great World Spin, which won the 2009 prestigious National Book Award in America. With Philippe Petit's breathless 1974 tightrope walk between the then unfinished World Trade Center Towers at its axis, it focuses on the lives of a disparate group of New York characters, including the viewpoint of Petit himself, whose own story was the subject of the award winning documentary Man on Wire. The novel celebrates the richness and diversity of New York through a range of rich and varied characters. After Borders bookshop chain announced it was going into administration, the CEO of Hachette UK, Tim Hely Hutchinson; editor of The Bookseller, Neill Denny; and independent bookseller Patrick Neale discuss the future of the bookshop on the high street. Author Patrick Gale provides the writers' perspective. There are over 1500 independent bookshops and 300 Waterstones, but the threat from online selling, the supermarket and the arrival of the e-book have all had an impact on where books are sold, and we consider the serious threat to the bookshop. Producer Hilary Dunn.