Andrew O'Hagan

He was the funniest.

He was the best looking.

He had the best haircut.

He had the highest cheekbones in Scotland and the best record collection in Europe.

He was that guy that men and women, boys and girls, all admired him for different reasons.

And he was the hero of a very small town that I grew up in.

And the idea that this guy becomes your best friend, you know, that in itself was a kind of operatic achievement.

And I wanted the book to encompass all that innocence and all that self-seeking that exists for you when you're young, you know.

And that was a 40-year friendship between myself and the person who the character was modelled on.

So Tully in the book, you know, I say without hesitation, it comes straight from life for me.

This is the most autobiographical book I've ever written.

And I felt that trying to just characterize Tully to offer a picture of what it's like to have a heroic friend who 30 years later needs you and depends on that old loyalty, but for a whole new set of reasons.