You're right. Desert Island Discs does automatically give you certain books like the Bible and Shakespeare (and lets you pick a so-called luxury items). I ignored that because the list wouldn't reflect my tastes if I omitted them and because Americans seem to need more than the English do an explanation for why you should take Shakepeare and the Bible. The cultural illiteracy here has grown so appalling: e.g., one study found that a substantial percentage of Americans think Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Seriously! Thanks for noticing the liberties I took with the BBC format.