Audioboo: Haslam and Franzen

Dave Haslam is on effusive form with Jonathan Schofield here – and it’s not surprising. The DJ-turned-raconteur has managed to bag the literary world’s hottest ticket for an event this Sunday at the Whitworth Art Gallery: the American author Jonathan Franzen (pictured with specs to the right).

Franzen’s latest novel, Freedom, has just been released and, it seems, everyone loves it. The notoriously hard to please critic Jonathan Jones, for example, described Franzen as ‘a literary genius for our time’. Not to be left out, the Financial Times went on record to pronounce the book ‘the cultural sensation of the autumn – and not just a novel but a hefty, profound and beautifully-written novel’.

The reading and Q&A is one in a series being produced by Haslam (lower picture to the right); this one has been staged especially for The Manchester Weekender. Keep your eyes peeled for Haslam’s next ‘close up’ event with The Specials’ front man, Terry Hall on 11 November.

Close Up featuring Jonathan Franzen, The Whitworth Art Gallery, Sunday 3 October, 7pm. Tickets for this event have now sold out but a limited number will be available on the door – turn up at 7pm sharp with a crisp tenner and your fingers crossed. Part of The Manchester Weekender.