"Coming up on Philosophy Talk. Good evening and welcome to the Arthur Ludlow Memorial Baths, Newport, for this year's finals of the All England Summarized Proust Competition. Marcel Proust had some brilliant ideas about how art can be transformative, but can a novel be philosophical? So much to talk about. Memory, identity, art, enchantment. How can you talk about that all in one novel? Well, it's a very long novel. Each contestant has to give a brief summary of Proust's à la recherche du temps perdu, once in a swimsuit and once in evening dress. Why read Proust in the 21st century? Total loser. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. Our guest is my co-host, Josh Landy, who's written a new book, The World According to Proust. Larry Sugarman is perhaps the second most highly regarded Proust scholar in the U.S. Who's number one? That would be me, Rich. In search of Proust's philosophy. Marcel Proust. Coming up on Philosophy Talk."