In the late 1980s Horslips lyricist and drummer Eamon Carr began his journalistic career by conducting interviews with an eclectic mix of famous people. Told in Carr’s immediate, entertaining style, Pure Gold is a portal to a time before practised TV chat show performances and the churn of social media sound bites, providing honest and sometimes introspective insights into the private lives of global stars and national treasures, such as Jack Charlton, Eartha Kitt, Shane MacGowan and Malcolm McLaren.

A natural raconteur, Carr soon discovered that people were eager to share their stories with him, from J.P. Donleavy’s accounts of his mercurial friendship with Brendan Behan to Brenda Fricker’s memories of delivering her acceptance speech when she became the first Irish woman ever to win an Oscar.

Almost cinematic in his descriptions, Carr’s conversations with this cast of luminaries are searingly honest, irreverent and profound, highlighting the humanity that unites us all. Pure Gold is a treasure trove of interviews that will remain with the reader long after the book is closed.