David Gaunt

I think you've got a future.

I'm paraphrasing entirely there.

And the whole history of a... Imagine the history of a press, one of the most prestigious presses in the English-speaking world, that rises and falls on the fact that

In the 1930s or 40s, Eliot writes the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats for Toby, the editor's father, as a whim.

And when Favour and Favour is on its knees financially in the 1980s, along comes this chap saying, I'd like to make a musical.

Okay, and there you go.

Yeah, of course.

And so, in fact, the whole 100-year history of the press is littered with incidents like that where at the very time you think, this can't last.

This is literary publishing for you.

I hadn't.

And indeed, the very two books that I'd have given you the heads up on were

Stephen's just told us about.

All I can add to what he just said is that Hellier Mantel is locked away.

It is happening.

It is in March, in fact.

I think it will be the fictional, international fictional publishing event of the year.

So, I mean, I spend my summer usually catching up on all the things that haven't.

I haven't been able to get across during the year, so I'm going to read both this year's Booker Prize books over... There's The Testaments by Margaret Atwood and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo.

And I'll catch up with Zadie Smith as well.

Pleasure.