That may be the worst author interview I've ever read.
And sadly, such a wasted opportunity with such a terrific author. Of all the interesting question the columnist could have asked, sigh.
Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
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Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#12What a cringe-worthy interview. It's clear the interviewer is asking from a set list of (stunningly boring) questions, and despite Le Guin answering nearly every question with "please ask a more interesting question", the interviewer doesn't waver.
Exactly. See The Paris Review's interview with Ursula K. Le Guin for a comparison: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6253/the-art-of-fic...
Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty sure it was a standard list of questions - perhaps emailed. Still, she is one of my favorite writers so it's interesting to read what she likes reading.
I would like to think it was certainly emailed because I can't imagine a live interviewer getting those kind of answers and continuing in that vein; I really want to assume the only way that could have happened was if there was no real back-and-forth between the interviewer and the interviewed.
It's a standard thing NYT does and it's pretty obvious that the questions are pre-written and sent as a batch.
Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#14What a cringe-worthy interview. It's clear the interviewer is asking from a set list of (stunningly boring) questions, and despite Le Guin answering nearly every question with "please ask a more interesting question", the interviewer doesn't waver.
Exactly. See The Paris Review's interview with Ursula K. Le Guin for a comparison: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6253/the-art-of-fic...
Thank you for the link, that's an informative piece.
Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#15Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#16Good god that was uninteresting.
Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#17Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#18If you really want to botch an interview and bend over backwards to not ask any pertaining (or even interesting) question, this is the way to go. NYT, I want my time back.
Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would like to think it was certainly emailed because I can't imagine a live interviewer getting those kind of answers and continuing in that vein; I really want to assume the only way that could have happened was if there was no real back-and-forth between the interviewer and the interviewed.
It's a standard thing NYT does and it's pretty obvious that the questions are pre-written and sent as a batch. http://www.nytimes.com/column/by-the-book
Alas, what a lazy approach. An opportunity wasted.
Re: Ursula K. Le Guin: By the Book
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a standard thing NYT does and it's pretty obvious that the questions are pre-written and sent as a batch. http://www.nytimes.com/column/by-the-book
Alas, what a lazy approach. An opportunity wasted.
I don't think that's fair. It's one of several standard types of interview, and legit in its own right, as long as one doesn't confuse it with the others. It's not like Ursula Le Guin hasn't done plenty of face-to-face interviews too.