books review

Andrew O'Hagan and Matt Frei

Brighton Festival

The novelist and the BBC correspondent proved a sleek, compatible double act in this debate about the state of America and her arguably waning power. With both panelists being writers with inquisitive minds, the discussion quickly turned to the role of the journalist, and O'Hagan, after telling us a story of how he had an interview cut short for asking his interviewee the "wrong" questions about their attitude to Iraqis, reflected that America certainly is a "strange country in which to speak your mind". Unusually, it was not Iraq which dominated their judgement on the failure of the Bush administration, instead they both recalled the horrific scenes of incompetence during Hurricane Katrina. Good-humoured and anecdotal, this was a pleasant evening, although it failed to dig beneath the surface.

The Old Court House, 23 May, 7:30pm,, £7.50

tw rating: 3/5

published: Aug-2008

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