Grey Matter with Michael Krasny cover image

Grey Matter with Michael Krasny

Lee Child - The Business of Revenge

Oct 23, 2023
Lee Child, retiring author of the Jack Reacher book series, reflects on his illustrious career, the Reacher movie and TV franchises, the handoff to his younger brother, his writing process, his love of guitars and cannabis, and what he thinks he might miss in retirement. He discusses the distinction between commercial and literary writing, encounters and frustrations, the role of AI in novel writing, the inspiration behind 'The Secret,' and the complex love life of Richard in the Richard series.
59:23

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Lee Child retired from writing the Jack Reacher book series to avoid becoming lazy and collaborated with his younger brother to continue the series.
  • Lee Child chose the name Jack Reacher and set the character in America to fit the archetype of the noble loner and reach a wider American audience.

Deep dives

Lee Child's Retirement and Success of Jack Reacher Novels

Lee Child, the internationally best-selling British-born novelist, recently announced his retirement after selling over 200 million novels featuring his iconic character Jack Reacher. Child explains that he always wanted to avoid becoming “lazy” or “phoning it in” like some authors in popular series do. While writing his 24th Jack Reacher book, Child realized that his enthusiasm was waning and decided to retire, but didn't want to disappoint his loyal readers. He collaborated with his younger brother, Andrew, for four more books and now he will continue the series on his own.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode