The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast

Write drunk, edit sober.

That was Hemingway’s formulation.

But given Patrick Hamilton is said to have been on three bottles of whisky a day by the time he wrote The Slaves of Solitude, I can’t imagine he gave much attention to the second part of Ernie’s advice.

Yet the most miraculous thing—aside from even being able to see his notebook after three bottles of the good stuff—is that Hamilton appears to have written a great work of literature.

As you’ll discover, this often-overlooked novel is a funny, frightening, and fascinatingly insightful study of the British psyche during (and after) the Second World War.

And frankly, I couldn’t have a better person to discuss the book with me—the author of an equally fascinating book (that examines the war in a new light), the brilliant writer and journalist, Luke Turner.

Indeed, welcome to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast, with me, your host, Glenn Fisher.

As you may well know by now, in each episode, I'm joined by a guest from the world of books to talk about a specific book they'd like to put in the library.

There's no plan and no agenda, just two people lazily thinking about literature.

If you enjoy the show and would like to help us (and get your hands on a coveted Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge), you can become a supporter of the library by upgrading your subscription.

But either way, please do like and share the show—it all helps.

In this episode, as I say, my very special guest is journalist, author, co-founder of The Quietus, and all round very nice chap, Luke Turner. We discuss his pick for the library, the 1947 novel The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton.

About Luke

Luke Turner is a writer and editor. He co-founded the influential music website The Quietus and has contributed to the Guardian, Dazed & Confused, Vice, NME, Q, Mojo, Monocle, Nowness, Somesuch Stories and the BBC among others. His first book, Out of the Woods, was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. His second book, Men at War: Loving, Lusting, Fighting, Remembering 1939-1945, was published in 2024. He lives in London.

About Patrick

Anthony Walter Patrick Hamilton was an English playwright and novelist. He was well regarded by Graham Greene and J. B. Priestley, and study of his novels has been revived because of their distinctive style, deploying a Dickensian narrative voice to convey aspects of inter-war London street culture. They display a strong sympathy for the poor, as well as an acerbic black humor. Doris Lessing wrote in The Times in 1968: "Hamilton was a marvelous novelist who's grossly neglected". His two most successful plays, Rope (1929) and Gas Light (1938), were made into famous films: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948); the UK-made Gaslight (1940), followed by the 1944 American version.

Links to obscure (and not so obscure) things mentioned in this episode

* Order The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton and Luke’s fascinating book Men at War from my local independent bookshop in Sheffield here.

* You can find The Quietus here.

* Find Luke on Instagram here.

* Find Glenn on Instagram here.

About the Library

The Library of Lazy Thinking is a place to hang out and learn more about books. The library is free—like all libraries should be. But if you’d like to support the library, you can make a small monthly donation by becoming a paid member (and get an exclusive The Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge). All donations go back into the library, helping to organize live events, exclusive merchandise, and more podcasts.

About Glenn

Glenn Fisher is a writer—wait, Glenn Fisher is me. I’m the one writing this. Let’s drop the third-person act. My writing has been published in online literary journals Lunate, The Paris Bitter Hearts Pit, 3am Magazine, Dogmatika, and Litro Magazine. I am currently working on my first novel. I write about books and interview other writers and creatives here in The Library of Lazy Thinking. I live in Sheffield and work as a freelance copywriter. I have had a best-selling non-fiction book published on the subject called The Art of the Click. It was published by Harriman House and shortlisted for Business Book of the Year. It has been translated into Simplified Chinese and Korean. I also have a dog called Pablo. He is harder to translate. Indeed, most of my life revolves around trying to understand his often unreasonable demands.