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Edward St. Aubyn’s five-volume series of semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels are one of the most acclaimed fiction cycles in English literature. Michael Silverblatt talks with St. Aubyn about his first novel since completing his series, hailed for its satirizing of the English aristocracy. In Lost for Words , St. Aubyn employs his lethal dose of humor in a send-up of England’s premier literary prize and its controversial, eco-disastrous sponsor. St. Aubyn’s acid pen skewers the competing authors as well as the judges and corporate, political and media interests that influence such prizes.

Edward St. Aubyn

Edward St. Aubyn

Edward St. Aubyn was born in London in 1960. He is the author of a series of highly acclaimed novels about the Melrose family, including At Last and Mother’s Milk, which was short-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize, as well as the novels A Clue to the Exit and On the Edge.


Michael Silverblatt

Michael Silverblatt

Michael Silverblatt is the host of KCRW’s half-hour radio show Bookworm, where he introduces listeners to new and emerging authors along with writers of renown. He created Bookworm for KCRW-FM in 1989. The complete Bookworm archive can be heard at kcrw.com/bookworm.


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