Thursday, July 12, 2007

How Late Late It Was, How Late Late

Sir Kenneth of Bruen was on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson the other night promoting Priest, and we’re hearing mixed reactions about how he got on – Peter over at Detectives Beyond Borders posted on the topic under the header ‘A shite television interview with a fine writer’, which may or may not give you some idea of where Peter was coming from, while Ed Gorman reckoned Ken was “Cool, humorous, witty, and swift enough to keep up with Ferguson, who is one seriously hopped-up guy.” Confused? You will be if you jump over here for a vid upload excerpt at TV Eyes – the bit about Hell’s Angels reading as they speed down the highway will stay with us for quite a while …
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3 comments:

  1. Sandra RuttanJuly 12, 2007 at 9:02 PM

    I thought Ken did a fantastic job. Not everyone is cut out for late night tv, able to think on their feet quickly and be entertaining and interesting. I understand some feel they would have liked more serious discussion, but given the nature of late night programming this was exactly what I expected. (I should note I'd never watched Craig Ferguson before, so my expectations were not based on him per se, just my general impressions of late night tv.)

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  2. Declan BurkeJuly 13, 2007 at 1:52 AM

    Hi Sandra - Given what I've seen of Ken Bruen on TV in the past, he's quick enough to adapt to any situation, and able to entertain no matter what. I think you're right about the constraints of late-night TV, that there's a certain expectation to keep things light and frothy, which doesn't really gel with Ken's novels ... but hey, as they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Cheers, Declan

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  3. PeterJuly 13, 2007 at 8:33 AM

    My take is that the show had to have been frustrating for people who know Bruen's work already and now that he has matters of substance to discuss. Viewers who had never ehard of him might think, "Hey, he's a funny and entertaining guy who gets blurbs from Hell's Angels, so maybe he's all right."

    But none of that did me much good. That's TV's fault, not Bruen's. You two are authors, so maybe you can appreciate the value of publicity more than I can!

    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.