Paris Review Interviews

In The Paris Review Interviews, volume 1, edited by Philip Gourevitch and published by Picador, we are treated to sixteen interviews spanning fifty years from authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Kurt Vonnegut, T.S. Eliot, Dorothy Parker, Joan Didion, Robert Stone, and many others. Culled from the magazine's famous archive of interviews, these pieces offer tremendous insight into the writer's work, craft, and personality.

For example, Richard Price seems perfectly content to chat with his interviewer on subjects as intimate as his drug addiction and mild case of cerebral palsy. Meanwhile, Hemingway seems absolutely pissed at the idea of discussing his work. He peppers his responses with irritations such as, "I see I am getting away from the question, but the question was not very interesting," and "The fact that I am interrupting serious work to answer these questions proves that I am so stupid that I should be penalized severely."

These are entertaining, and illuminating, looks into some of our greatest authors.