Re: (TV) Even fewer words from Verlaine

[Joe Hartley <jh@brainiac.com>]

On Thu, 8 May 2014 11:54:27 -0400
Emilie <emilie.t.hsu@gmail.com> wrote:

> It's funny, these emails remind of this article in the new New York Review
> of Books about how writers hate the questions that readers ask them called
> "Stupid Questions":
> 
> http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/may/01/stupid-questions/?insrcwbll

That was brilliant.  This sums it up perfectly:
"The public are firing shots in the dark; they are groping for some kind 
of connection between the figure on the stage and the particular atmosphere 
of the novels they have read."

It's one thing for the public to grasp at these straws, but one hopes for
better from someone conducting an interview.  Sadly, for every Ty Burr
there are a thousand hacks who are no better than the general public and
who do not seem to grasp the concept of researching the subject beforehand.

Being a fan and having listened to MM a thousand times does not qualify you
to interview Tom for publication.  Doing some research and reading past
interviews gets you a lot closer.  I think my favorite Tom interview is the
one from the New York Times from 2006 where Tom and the reviewer went to
the Metropolitan Museum of Art before they sat down(*).  Talking about the 
art provided a great springboard for the rest of the conversation and 
clearly got Tom to talk about things that he usually brushes off.

With this latest batch of "interviews" I can understand why Tom is so
reluctant to do many of them.

(*) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/arts/music/18verl.html?_r=0
-- 
======================================================================
       Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh@brainiac.com
 Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
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