Will Gregory on Flann O'Brien

Goldfrapp's Will Gregory is centre-stage at the Colston Hall in Bristol to tell Matthew Parris why he feels a kinship with Irish writer Flann O'Brien whose books 'At Swim-Two-Birds' and 'The Third Policeman' are now hailed as literary masterpieces but which only came to prominence after the author's death. Carol Taaffe, who has written about Flann, helps make sense of the man who wrote under three pseudonyms - Brian O'Nolan, Flann O'Brien, and Myles na gCopaleen. They look more closely at the novels and newspaper column he wrote alongside his job in the Civil Service, whilst maintaining a steady presence in Dublin's pubs. Will reads extracts he believes illustrate the brilliance with which O'Brien slips between realism and surrealism, and Carol sheds light on who said that 'At Swim-Two-Birds' "....was just the book to give your Sister if she's a loud dirty boozy girl." Producer: Toby Field.