Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire: 101 Luminaries Ponder Love, Death, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life

By Graydon Carter

Book Overview

An intimate look into the inner lives of our most prominent cultural figures-- pulled from the celebrated Proust Questionnaire page in Vanity Fair magazine. The probing set of questions originated as a 19th-century parlor game popularized by contemporaries of Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that an individual's answers reveal his true nature. Illustrated by Risko, Vanity Fair's Proust Q uestionnaire Edited by Graydon Carter and Illustrated by Risko, brings together the responses of 101 of the most vibrant personalities of our time, from Bette Midler and Lauren Bacall to Salman Rushdie and Norman Mailer, from Martin Scorsese and Shirley MacLaine to Aretha Franklin and Eric Clapton. Candid, hilarious, and endlessly fascinating,

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1605295957
• ISBN13: 9781605295954
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Rodale Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent and entertaining

This is a great read- I was suprised by many, and entertained by all. You can read this over and over again!

Vanity Fair's PROUST Questionnaire

Despite the rather pretentious title, this book does have 101 (a pretentious number too) luminaries (pretentious) pondering (in one page capsules) "love, death, happiness and the meaning of life." A must have book for the person that likes to dip into deeper things. The best part of the book? The illustrations by Risko of all the luminaries--and on quality paper.

Vanity Fair 's Proust

I enjoyed this book very much. I always turn to the last page of VF to read the Proust interview before I read the magazine. This is a collection of same. Insightful in some cases, frivolous in others..all are cool!

Smart questions, surprising answers

Proust did not lose any time, when he wanted to understand human nature. Almost a century later, his questionnaire still elicits amazing insights ! For some reason, people tend to try to beat the smartness of the questions, by circumventing them or issuing outrageous answers. The result: you get to know the true personalities of the answerers better than through any other means. It is great fun !

hilarious

really entertaining what successful, famous people have to say. tinge of psychosis; and you realize sometimes how similar they are to you.