Phil and Jo host The Banterists without Lily, share a listener recommendation for Tuscany’s Tarot Garden by Niki de Saint Phalle, and discuss literature. Jo highlights spoof/parody books, including the 2014 self-published Ladybird-style Go to the Gallery that inspired Penguin’s 2015 grown-up Ladybird spoofs (over five million sold) and mentions legal action, plus Sean Lock’s The Tiger Who Came for a Pint. They share words and origins: “petrichor,” “apricity,” and “Svengali” from George du Maurier’s Trilby. Jo recommends biographies, focusing on war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and her links to Lee Miller, and they discuss actor autobiographies and adaptations. Quick-fire questions cover favorite books/authors and trivia (Shakespeare’s coined words; Guardian’s top novel Middlemarch; Lily’s favorite, Daphne du Maurier’s The House on the Strand). Recommendations include The Christopher’s, Two Weeks in August, The Playboy of the Western World, Netflix’s The Boroughs, and a Kylie documentary.

Links

Guardian Top 100 Novels:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-novels-of-all-time

Great essay on Martha Gellhorn:

https://granta.com/products/granta-62-what-young-men-do/

And an old article on Martha Gellhorn from the Independent:

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/a-life-less-ordinary-1168141.html

Phills Authors 

Patrick Gale 

https://galewarning.org

Armistead Maupin

https://www.armisteadmaupin.com

Jo’s books she has read and recommends 

Autobiography – Travels with myself and another - Martha Gellhorn

Biography - Martha Gellhorn: A Life by Caroline Moorehead

Lily’s favourite book:

House on the Strand – Daphne Du Maurier

Recomendings 

The Boroughs - on Netflix

Two Weeks in August - BBC I Player

Our podcast music is called  ‘The best jazz club in New Orleans’

Music by Paolo Argento from Pixabay