Planet Introvertian Logic
Before June, my friend Lee Child had been interviewed hundreds of times. Maybe even thousands. A quick Google search of his name turned up 299,000,000 hits in 0.19 seconds. An almost equally quick Google search seeking “Lee Child’s favorite songs” turned up 150,000,000 results in .30 seconds. But “What is Lee Child’s favorite Beatle Song?” returned no answer. (Although there’s a good playlist back in 2009 for Gone Tomorrow.)
Was it possible that no one had ever asked Lee the question before?
Unlikely. He is, after all, a man of a certain age. Born in Coventry, England, he was the right age at the right time in the right place to have experienced adolescence saturated with Beatle songs. The Beatles are the best selling band in history. Surely, I figured, he’d have a favorite or ten. That’s how Planet Introvertians think.
His answer was swift and certain. No hesitation at all. I asked. He answered.
He said he actually had two favorites, “Nostalgically and musically.”
But why did I ask?
While I’ve been writing Get Back Jack, which uses Lee’s Back Luck and Trouble as a launching off point, FBI Agents Otto & Gaspar refer to Reacher’s old army buddies as The Fab Four. (You remember who the four surviving members of Reacher’s Special Investigations Unit are, right?)
Naturally, Reacher’s Fab Four led to the Beatles, or maybe the other way around. Which then led to me asking Lee about his favorite Beatle song. Then I asked you. And here we are.
You submitted your best guesses. Some even told me what Lee’s favorites should be! One reader searched all over the net to find whether Lee had answered this question before. She came up empty.
So let’s try this again. Can you guess one of Lee’s two favorites?
I’ll give you one hint: One song is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year.
Okay, a second hint: The same one remains The Beatles biggest selling UK Single.
Give up?
Now, you can find one answer online. Go ahead. Search. And post your answer in the comments below. While you’re there, tell me what your favorite Beatle song is, too. We’ll have a random drawing.
One lucky commenter will get an Advance Readers Copy of Get Back Jack. Is it you?
As always, thank you for reading!
