Anne Tyler: If I could buy all of my first four novels and destroy them I would

Handout image of Anne Tyler, whose book A Spool of Blue Thread, is one of six that have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015.

Author Anne Tyler has revealed she is “embarrassed” by some of her early work and said she would like to destroy all the copies of her first four novels.

The 80-year-old has produced 23 novels during her lifetime, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Breathing Lessons and her 20th novel A Spool Of Blue Thread – which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize shortlist in 2015.