UK BBC Radio 4‘s A Good Read was broadcast on Tuesday 20 March at 4.30pm.
In it, Ken Campbell talked to Sue MacGregor about his favourite book. His choice? The Illuminatus! Trilogy: Part 1 The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
Comedian Ken Campbell staged the whole Illuminatus! Trilogy in 1977 at The Royal National Theatre in London, with RAW as a naked extra. Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati, also from 1977, was dedicated to Ken who, in this radio programme, remarks: “It is a book about derangement and it is itself potentially deranging. It is a book that somehow has one foot in the regular camp and one foot in what I call ‘the other’… Astounding science fiction. It’s the grandfather of conspiracy books…
Asked why he put it on the stage, Ken replied with absolute honesty: “Because of utter love.”
Good on you, Ken!
For the rest of this week, you can listen to the programme at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/agoodread.shtml
Fans of RAW here will be interested to know that Ken Campbell narrates the book (quite wonderfully!) on the official audio book release, available for paid download from Deepleaf Audio here: http://www.deepleafaudio.com/