How Twitter Inspired Steven Wright’s Novel | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

usually when I hear I'm going to talk to. somebody and they've written a book. I get this feeling of apprehension which. is I gotta read the book and they booked. you. and I'm very excited and then I hear. um Stephen wrote a novel. and. I'm immediately very intrigued. so I get sent this copy of Harold which. is this novel you wrote and it's. beautiful it's really funny and touching.

it's beautifully written. I think only you could write this. and I I love it I just I really do and. it was such a nice thing for me to read. the book and then know I get to go and. drive in and talk to tell Steven you got. here a little early and I heard you were. hanging out outside like a creep but I. was so excited I won I had the book and. I wanted to go down and tell you I need. to tell you how much I like your book I. really appreciate it and it's funny.

because you mentioned Vonnegut and I'm. like I can feel like there's a there's. different strains like you say there's a. soup but there's I can see like Joseph. Heller and Vonnegut there's a but it's. very sweet and also at times sad and. there's such funny stuff in here. and it's all from the mind of. an eight-year-old seven or eight. seven yeah I didn't read it that. thoroughly. I just skimmed to get it I just skimmed.

to get his age I'm very good at it and. I'm pretty you know that's the one thing. I will read is the age no but I was. I think eight would have been the better. choice but that's my stew brain versus. your consummate brain I don't know my. broth point but you know first of all. one of the first things that that struck. me because I'm so obsessed with myself. is I read this I read this thing at the. front. by uh by the uh the editor of the book.

from Simon and Schuster who's clearly a. big deal editor and he's talking about. how. he stumbled upon you doing a set on my. show and interview on my show oh yes and. he talks about how this is why it all. comes together he talks about how he's. always been a fan of yours and then he. said uh he sits here at the top of the. book. um he's. starting to think about you know what. could I do with Steven Wright and then. he said I'd only started my job.

um I guess it's Simon Schuster and I was. spending a lot of time searching the. internet trying to come up with book. ideas I can't remember what weird. YouTube algorithm led me to it but I. came across a clip of Steven Wright on. Conan O'Brien's late night show back in. 2013 when he talked about writing a. novel on Twitter posting one sentence at. a time how long is the novel by now. Conan asked 1500 pages right said 1500. pages Conan said and then you say if. there's one word on each page.

and then I guess he thought I gotta. check this out so he went on Twitter and. you really were doing that and then he. starts talking to you and you guys form. a friendship and you do this book so I. was just thrilled that uh that's amazing. the connection yeah yeah tremendous yeah. you would also think there might be a. financial sharing in here but we'll talk. about that later you'll hear no I love. that I love that he saw it but I love. the Serendipity of.

you do this joke this guy sees that then. you start talking then uh this book. comes along and. um this book is really special because. it's a it's a boy and he's growing up in. you say the mid 60s and he's in a. classroom and he's daydreaming and. thinking. uh you know throughout the class and his. mind is taking him all around the.

universe he talks about hanging out with. his grandfather and in there. great I don't want to call them jokes. but really good profound observations. and they're all very much the way a kid. would think and you have this idea about. what if people were like trees and that. they just kept getting taller as they. got older and I'd be walking down the. street as an eight-year-old. seven-year-old boy and I'd see a an 80. year old woman and she's 45 feet tall. and and you have this conversation with. her and I'm it just tickled and then.

there's so many sweet things that happen. in it and it's very it's almost also has. some sort of a James Joyce quality. because it's all happening in a very. constrained period of time. but also the time is infinite because if. you're daydreaming a billion things can. happen in 45 minutes. yeah he's in the class and he's thinking. he's daydreaming he's thinking about. dreams he's had he's thinking about. experiences that he really made me think.

of memories and it all is in one day and. uh. in the class I I it's great that you you. like it so much I love it how much of it. is you or do you not want to say a lot. of it a lot of a lot of it I think you. can't write anything be completely made. up you know all my see the thing is when. I I was writing it on Twitter I wrote. like on half a page on there then I. stopped and then I didn't write it for. like a year and then I thought that. thing I should keep writing it and just.

keep going but I didn't put it on. Twitter so I just kept going and you. know the jokes I do are like creatively. it's like going through a narrow window. a couple sentences two three sentences. and hopefully the audience laughs you. know. okay and I'm not complaining I'm just. describing it but I had a lot of things. in my mind that wouldn't go through that. window to just be a two couple liner. joke. so I essentially used Harold's head it's.

like I put a funnel on his head. and I poured into that phone everything. I think about being alive you know. religion and War and authority and the. universe and is there a god you know. that's all that's repeated all the way. through the book. is God willing if there's a God you know. I hope God if there's a God so you're. constantly questioning that throughout. yeah it was a great I didn't even know I.

had all this in my head but I was a. whole other way to create it wasn't. jokes and uh. I liked writing and it wasn't a bird and. I never got like oh when is it gonna be. done oh no one was waiting for it I had. no book or deal or anything again it was. like playing like you were joking you. were joking with the thing outside and. they said oh we should use that as a bit. so I would just try to write a little. bit of it every day and then coffee I.

have to thank coffee because my mind. goes insane on coffee and I would just. time would drink the coffee and had like. a two-hour window where I would just and. I it became a little world that I would. go to. and uh I tried not to think about how is. this going to be received what are they. gonna think right I was just like. playing oh oh the comedy I've always. loved the most is. when the person providing it doesn't.

need to please me when I first started. writing it I realized there was no story. and I thought I can't keep this there's. no story and I thought I I don't know so. I stopped for a year. I thought I don't know how to write a. story I don't know how and I thought a. year later I thought so what just I want. to just write it anyway right so it's. not like this happened and then this. happened then he did and then because of. that so I just accepted that I didn't. know how to write a story so I just.

that's just went the other thing I love. is Harold's voice very much like your. voice but imagine you as a kid but. there's a great thing where his teacher. is prominent because she's running the. class the whole time Harold is thinking. all these incredible things and having. these Journeys in his mind and every now. and at one point she uh he remembers the. time that she came up and looked at what. he was drawing and what Harold was. drawing and said that's really. beautifully done you did a really good. job here Harold and he said how dare you. judge me.

it's just packed with those things so uh. I hope you write more but if all you. wrote was this that is plenty because it. is fantastic it's really good thank you. so much and I you know it's you're. such a. great uh inspirational and fascinating. person to talk to and laugh with that I.

hope you come back I would love to. you're one of those people who needs to. come back I would love it and I'll have. more. we can have more competing analogies. more Super analogies bro we can maybe. change it too no our brains are like you. know crackers. a dry Dutch cracker that's got a high. seed count that's very good for your. your bowels and I'm but I'm like this. Rich Savory buttery cracker I noticed it. all yours are always oh they're good. right better than mine oh yeah I see a.

pattern yeah there's a pattern here yeah. I think you are one of the fastest. incredible comedy Minds ever that's what. I would say to people what is it like. going on there I said you know what I. say something I think hope it's funny if. but if it's not it doesn't matter. because. you are like a laser it's incredible. brilliant in front of you that's huge so. I guess yes I mean that I can't believe.

I feel good about myself for an hour. no coming there's no higher uh no higher. praise I could get yeah than a. compliment from you so seriously. um we all owe you I mean we all but you. changed everything for so many of us. and uh we're lucky that you came along. we really are and I was you say it's a. quirk it's an accident but you also. um and and I do think. I give it up for quirks and accidents.

but there's also uh integrity and hard. work and being a good person and those. things aren't quirks so that makes it. all wonderful so thank you thank you. very much thank you let's never speak. again all right. laughs.