Talking to Strangers

'It's always a bad idea to go online and book a flight when you've had too much wine. You never know where you might end up.'

This was how Michael Harding found himself in a strange flat in Bucharest in January 2015, which set the tone for the rest of the year.

After a stint in the Gaiety Theatre production of The Field, Harding returned to the tranquil hills above Lough Allen and began to imagine what his little cottage might look like if he got a few builders to tear a hole in the wall to add on another room. Surely an extension would give him a renewed sense of purpose in life, as he approached old age.

But as the walls of his home crumbled, so too did his mental health, and he fell, once again, into depression -- that great darkness where life feels like nothing more than a waste of time.

And yet, it is in that great darkness that we discover what really makes us human.

“A compelling memoir. Absorbing and graced with a deceptive lightness of touch ... Harding writes like an angel - Sunday Times on Hanging with the ElephantAn edifying journey of self-discovery - Irish Mail on Sunday on Hanging with the ElephantWonderful ... Like many people who have achieved a great deal, [Harding] cannot recognise his triumphs. This book, like its predecessor, is one of them - John Boyne, Irish Times on Hanging with the ElephantHarding is a self-deprecating and winsome writer whose bittersweet musings on middle-age, loneliness and the search for spiritual enlightenment in post-Catholic Ireland are leavened by an incredibly dry and unforced wit. However, it's the sections in which Harding focuses on his relationship with his mother... that Hanging with the Elephant reaches lump-in-throat-inducing levels of poignancy - Metro Herald on Hanging with the ElephantOften funny, occasionally disturbing and not without its moments of deep sadness, Harding has peeled back his soul and held it out on the palm of his hand for all to see - Christine Dwyer Hickey on Hanging with the ElephantIt's rare for a memoir to demand such intense emotional involvement, and rarer still for it to be so fully rewarded - Sunday Times on Staring at LakesI read this book in one sitting ... it held me and wouldn't let go - Mary McEvoy, Irish Independent on Staring at LakesThis memoir grabs you from the outset and holds you right to the end. Harding traverses the human soul and excavates its deepest secrets. His language sings. Extraordinary - Deirdre Purcell on Staring at Lakes”

A compelling memoir. Absorbing and graced with a deceptive lightness of touch ... Harding writes like an angel - Sunday Times on Hanging with the Elephant

An edifying journey of self-discovery - Irish Mail on Sunday on Hanging with the Elephant

Wonderful ... Like many people who have achieved a great deal, [Harding] cannot recognise his triumphs. This book, like its predecessor, is one of them - John Boyne, Irish Times on Hanging with the Elephant

Harding is a self-deprecating and winsome writer whose bittersweet musings on middle-age, loneliness and the search for spiritual enlightenment in post-Catholic Ireland are leavened by an incredibly dry and unforced wit. However, it's the sections in which Harding focuses on his relationship with his mother... that Hanging with the Elephant reaches lump-in-throat-inducing levels of poignancy - Metro Herald on Hanging with the Elephant

Often funny, occasionally disturbing and not without its moments of deep sadness, Harding has peeled back his soul and held it out on the palm of his hand for all to see - Christine Dwyer Hickey on Hanging with the Elephant

It's rare for a memoir to demand such intense emotional involvement, and rarer still for it to be so fully rewarded - Sunday Times on Staring at Lakes

I read this book in one sitting ... it held me and wouldn't let go - Mary McEvoy, Irish Independent on Staring at Lakes

This memoir grabs you from the outset and holds you right to the end. Harding traverses the human soul and excavates its deepest secrets. His language sings. Extraordinary - Deirdre Purcell on Staring at Lakes

Michael Harding is an author and playwright. A recipient of the Stewart Parker Award for theatre, a Hennessy Award for Short Stories and a Bank of Ireland/RTE award for Excellence in the Arts in 1990, he has written numerous plays for the Abbey Theatre and was writer in association with the National Theatre in 1993.

His novels include Bird in the Snow, The Trouble with Sarah Gullion and Priest. He is also the author of several bestselling memoirs including Staring at Lakes (winner of the Bord Gais Energy Book of the Year award), Hanging with the Elephant, Talking to Strangers, On Tuesdays I'm a Buddhist, Chest Pain and What is Beautiful in the Sky.

He is a member of Aosdana, a columnist for over fifteen years with The Irish Times and his podcasts are available on the Patreon platform.

'It's always a bad idea to go online and book a flight when you've had too much wine. You never know where you might end up.' This was how Michael Harding found himself in a strange flat in Bucharest in January 2015, which set the tone for the rest of the year.After a stint in the Gaiety Theatre production of The Field , Harding returned to the tranquil hills above Lough Allen and began to imagine what his little cottage might look like if he got a few builders to tear a hole in the wall to add on another room. Surely an extension would give him a renewed sense of purpose in life, as he approached old age.But as the walls of his home crumbled, so too did his mental health, and he fell, once again, into depression -- that great darkness where life feels like nothing more than a waste of time.And yet, it is in that great darkness that we discover what really makes us human.

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