Open Book - 25/04/2010

Mariella Frostrup talks to the novelist Andrew O'Hagan, whose latest book is a portrait of Marilyn Monroe as seen through the eyes of her dog, Maf. He explains why a urbane and well-read canine narrator seemed the most appropriate person to restore the reputation of Hollywood's best known sex siren. The writer Caryl Phillips explains his passion for the work of the Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo, in discussion with the Japanese literature expert Damian Flanagan. And Jim Crace's latest novel All That Follows takes a saxophonist as its central character. He talks about the influence of jazz on his writing, as do the crime writer John Harvey and the poet and novelist Jackie Kay. Producer: Thomas Morris.