There was something about Laurel and Hardy that struck a
chord for the young John Connolly. Gathered round the Saturday morning TV, a
bowl of cereal in his lap, it was the honest friendship between these two men
that made them so compelling. A great bromance.
Years later, during his first American book tour, the
spectre of Stan Laurel once again found John. This remembrance of the man and
his friendship with Oliver Hardy planted a seed in his imagination, a seed that
eventually blossomed into his latest novel, he.
“They were very much part of my childhood and I always had
an affection for them, more so than for Chaplin or for Buster Keating. I think
that there is something in the friendship between them that resonates with kids
- kids get them,” says John.
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read this interview in full as well as other interviews with Ann Enright, John Arden, Kevin Barry, Colm
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