Fresh Air
From Tractatus
I have been reading a book of interviews by Terry Gross on her program Fresh Air. Each interview I read reinforces my love for this program.
I highly recommend the book. It was a gift from a friend of mine with excellent taste. Actually, forget that, go to the web site and listen to the interviews :)
Since I have heard so many of the interviews, the book acts a mnemonic, forcing the vivid recall of the feeling of listening to the interviews. Just seeing that the last interview in the book was 'Maurice Sendak' gave me chills. What I love most about Fresh Air is the unexpected direction that the interview takes in illuminating the life of the individual. A Fresh Air interview is like an obituary for the current work of an author. It examines the work in the context of the artist's life. The key question in the Sendak interview was when she, struck by the disturbing nature of Sendak's prose, asked what had disturbed Sendak in his early life. His astonishing answer, that he was responsible for the death of a childhood friend, and his further exposition describing the ongoing psychological conflicts which have governed his life defy description.
It made me feel as though I had learned something about the madness behind the method, an explanation of the reality of Sendak's work, which I recall from my youth. It makes me feel in touch, and I value that fleeting feeling.
--Iain 02:04, 6 Nov 2005 (EST)