Any Human Heart writing again of a whole-life view: "I don't think there's anything wrong with going back over territory you've previously covered." Though avowedly not an (auto-)biographical novelist, Boyd acknowledged that personal experiences often subconsciously affect a writer's fiction. As in several of Boyd's novels there are parallels with the author's life: both Boyd and Mountstuart lived in Africa and France, studied at Oxford, worked in literary London and had a taste of New York. Boyd usually splits the creation of a novel into two phases: research and writing. The first phase of "Any Human Heart" took 30 months as he carefully
How Are Things in Glocca Morra? How Are Things in Glocca Morra? "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" is a popular song about a fictional village in Ireland, with themes of nostalgia and homesickness. It was introduced by Ella Logan in the original Broadway production of "Finian's Rainbow". The music was composed by Burton Lane and the lyrics were written by E.Y. Harburg. The song was published in 1946 and introduced in the 1947 musical "Finian's Rainbow". There is no actual Glocca Morra in Ireland (though there is a Glockamara). In a television interview late in his life, Harburg revealed that the name "Glocca Morra" was