JB: I wrote a book called the Identity of Man. I never saw the cover of the English edition until the book reached me in print. And yet the artist had understood exactly what was in my mind, by putting on the cover a drawing of the brain and the Mona Lisa, one on top of the other

Being so close to the production over several years, Malone was not sure if it would work. ...


SO WE SWITHERED between whether it was genius or whether it was idiocy. At the very end, when we'd done a rough cut we sat in a studio and showed it to Huw Wheldon, who was then Head of Everything...and there was a silence afterwards - a long silence - and Huw clamped that jaw of his together and said "Well, it's an affirmation, an affirmation". And we knew it was OK.
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The Ascent of Man

Adrian Malone

Source: BBC Radio, 'Proms' interval feature, 1999.