Cassie McCullough

Like people will write essays about this.

This will launch doctoral theses, this book.

You're listening to The Bookshelf here on Radio National.

I'm Cassie McCullough here with Kate Evans, actually really Kate Evans in the studio, and we're ready to meet this week's guests, beginning with George Aranda, who is a science education academic from Deakin University and one of our most active members on the ABC Book Club Facebook group.

Hello, George.

Hi George.

Great to have you along.

Now tell us, you're a science communicator.

How come you're so into fiction?

So functional fiction.

So I guess you're a little bit biased, Heather, but has Gore Vidal dated, aged well?

Well, I did notice that Alan Coller the other day had a book on his desk, just the one book for once when he was doing his finance report, and it was Escape from Rome.

And I thought, I wonder, there's a small message in that.

Thomas McMullen is an English journalist, critic and short story writer.

And now he's written a novel, The Last Good Man, which Kate and George have both read.

So where is this set?

What do you mean talking about them?

We're living through them, Kate.

Sounds like great expectations.

okay now i'm just going to jump in here so the main guy is duncan duncan peck and he has come across this group of people because he's been invited by his old mate james yes james and duncan