Interviewer: How about the novel? Have you ever tried that form? Parker: I wish to God I could do one, but I haven't got the nerve. Interviewer: And short stories? Are you still doing them? Parker: I'm trying now to do a story that's purely narrative. I think narrative stories are the best, though my … Continue reading Paris Review: Dorothy Parker
Category: Paris Review
Paris Review: John Cheever
Interviewer: What comes first, the plot? Cheever: I don't work with plots. I work with intuition, apprehension, dreams, concepts. Characters and events come simultaneously to me. Plot implies narrative and a lot of crap. It is a calculated attempt to hold the reader's interest at the sacrifice of moral conviction. Of course, one doesn't want … Continue reading Paris Review: John Cheever
Paris Review: Alice Munro
May is Short Story Month, and Alice Munro, along with being one of my favorite writers, is an undisputed master of the short story form. If you have not read any of her work, I suggest you get your hands on one of her collections, pronto. My personal favorite is Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. … Continue reading Paris Review: Alice Munro
Paris Review: Chinua Achebe
Interviewer: When you write, what audience do you have in mind? Is it Nigerian? Is it Igbo? Is it American? Achebe: All of those. I have tried to describe my position in terms of circles, standing there in the middle. These circles contain audiences that get to hear my story. The closest circle is the … Continue reading Paris Review: Chinua Achebe
Paris Review: Robert Lowell on Theodore Roethke
Interviewer: What about Roethke, who tries to do just about everything you don't try to do? Robert Lowell: We've read to each other and argued, and may be rather alike in temperament actually, but he wants a very musical poem and always would quarrel with my ear as I'd quarrel with his eye. He has … Continue reading Paris Review: Robert Lowell on Theodore Roethke
Paris Review: Elizabeth Bishop
As many blogs have already mentioned, April is National Poetry Month. Interviewer: Have you ever had any poems that were gifts? Poems that seemed to write themselves? Bishop: Oh, yes. Once in a while it happens. I wanted to write a villanelle all my life but I never could. I'd start them but for some … Continue reading Paris Review: Elizabeth Bishop
Paris Review Interviews: Raymond Carver
I finally received my Paris Review Interviews box set, and I thought it would be fun to share some excerpts with you every Saturday. This week, since I said in my Booking Through Thursday post this week that I think people should read Raymond Carver, I thought I would start there: Interviewer: Are your characters … Continue reading Paris Review Interviews: Raymond Carver
The Evening Reader 