From Slate: A terrific interview with This American Life‘s Ira Glass on storytelling, creativity, and being wrong.
But there’s a really fascinating instance of what you’re talking about in Chuck Klosterman’s new book [Eating the Dinosaur]. I feel like this is a really weird example to bring up, but he interviews me and Errol Morris about interviewing. It’s a really funny chapter because I give all of these totally Pollyanna answers—I mean, things I really believe, but I’m like [here he goes into an earnest falsetto, like a very sincere Chipmunk] “I just think that people open up because they sense that somebody’s really interested. It’s just a natural human thing.” And Errol is like “I DOUBT WHETHER WE KNOW OURSELVES, AND THE ACT OF BEING INTERVIEWED IS AN ACT OF ASSERTING A SELF WHICH WE HOPE IS TRUE.” Seriously, every answer is like this. I’m like, “I just think it’s really swell being interviewed!” And he’s like “THERE IS NO SELF.”
But anyway, afterward, they contacted Errol and me to ask if we would say our quotes into a microphone for the book on tape. Errol said “Sure,” and then when he saw one of the quotes, he said, “No, I meant the opposite of this. I may have said these words, but I actually meant the opposite.” This happened at the very last minute and it was really hard to figure out what to do, because it was a really beautiful quote, and then there’s Errol saying that it’s wrong, that he doesn’t stand by. And then Klosterman has to write around that, and it’s all in the chapter and it’s fascinating. But I don’t know why I’m wasting your time on this.
