Paris Review Interviews

Paris Review has spent decades interviewing the greatest writers from across the world.  From the 1950s, when they interviewed Graham Greene, T.S. Eliot, James Thurber, Hemingway, Capote, Faulkner, E.M. Forster, Dorothy Parker, Ralph Ellison and others, to the current decade where they interview Ray Bradbury, Bret Easton Ellis, Jeffrey Eugenides, R. Crumb, David Mitchell, and Ursula K. LeGuin.   

And guess what?  They're all available to read online, in their entirety, for free.

Robert Coover Discussing the Mainstream

Robert Coover is one of the great living American avant-garde writers.  His work frequently deals with the interplay between media and reality, in short stories like The Babysitter (collected in Pricksongs & Descants), collections like A Night at the Movies, as well as being a major part in his novels and novellas.  A contemporary of John Barth and Donald Barthelme, Coover is a major advocate of hypertext fiction and continuing to push literature into unexplored territories.  

                              

An Interview with Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a difficult man to understand. He created Sherlock Holmes, one of the most enduring characters in popular fiction, and redefined an entire genre in a way that's still felt over a century later.  The mystery genre became a matter of rational inquiry and deductive reasoning.  Which is why people are often surprised to discover Doyle's later obsession with the supernatural.  Doyle was friends with Houdini, who spent many years debunking fraudulent mediums and mystics.  Doyle and Houdini had a falling out when Doyle refused to concede that Houdini did not have supernatural powers, and was merely an illusionist, despite Houdini's explanations.  

While the rational Holmes and the mystic Doyle may seem irreconcilable to us, Doyle didn't see it that way.  Embedded here is a 1927 film interview with Doyle, where he explains the origins of Holmes and his own interests in spiritualism.

Orson Welles Remembers Hemingway

From a 1974 interview with Michael Parkinson:

Truman Capote and David Frost Talk About Sex, Love, and Friendship

I just finished reading Breakfast at Tiffany's (an excellent novella (and A Christmas Memory is one of the saddest stories I've ever read)), so I thought I'd find leave you all with a little Capote today.  

Kurt Vonnegut on Cat's Cradle, Technology, and Truth

Public TV Interview with Ray Bradbury

1982 Round Table Discussion with Isaac Asimov, Gene Wolfe, and Harlan Ellison

A half-hour syndicated talk program, covering the nature and marketing of science-fiction (or speculative-fiction) works.   The hosts are named Studs Terkel and Calvin Trillin (which are not, in fact, porn pseudonyms).

A bit of interesting background to the interview can be found in the archives of Harlan Ellison's website. (Check the post for November 1, 2008 11:13:15)

Interview with Joseph Heller

An interview from the late 70s with from the Bill Boggs show, where he talks about Catch-22, Good as Gold, and the writing process.

Hunter S. Thompson and Conan O'Brien Drink Hard Liquor and Shoot Big Guns

As the over-long title of this post suggests, the following video includes Hunter S. Thompson in full-on over-the-top guns blazing insanity.

David Foster Wallace talking about Perfectionism

Check out this animated PBS interview with David Foster Wallace: 

Happy Birthday Bret Easton Ellis!

Today is author Bret Easton Ellis's 49th birthday.  Ellis is probably one of the most controversial living authors, with books like "American Psycho" and "Less Than Zero" and their extremely graphic sex and violence.  Whether you're a fan or a detractor, it's hard to deny that Ellis has had a strong impact on what's (in)appropriate in modern fiction.  Here's a short interview with Ellis, discussing self-censorship: