This rich collection of interviews will include the gems of the Fresh Air archive. Terry Gross has included an original introduction to each entry in ALL I DID WAS ASK, providing the historical and artistic context for the conversation and introducing the subject to the reader. And while the interviews are all with famous, household names, Gross’s probing, thoughtful interview style allows for content that goes beyond the typical superficial banter exchanged on most talk shows. Terry Gross’s trademark meticulous research lets her link ideas and experience in ways that help even the most reticent guest relax and to open up for interviews that are more informative and more revelatory than those from other shows.While Terry Gross often has politicians and political journalists on her show, the book features contributors to popular culture whose stories are less ephemeral. She has edited down thousands of interviews to feature the classics, the interviews with lasting relevance and interest for readers and those interviews that transcend the radio medium, with such interviewees as Aerosmith, Conan O’Brien, Dustin Hoffman, John Updike, and Chuck Close.
Reviews with the most likes.
I think I bought this as a Kindle Daily Deal at some point? It's what it says on the tin, pretty much just transcripts of Fresh Air interviews, some of which were 20+ years old. (In the intro Terry says she picked ones about artists because they would age better than ones about politicians and other current events-y figures, and for the most part they did.) She also added short introductions to contextualize each interview. They were all interesting, and it was a good book to read in little chunks over a series of lunch breaks.
I would mostly recommend this book if:
a) you are a Terry Gross superfan
or
b) you are looking for something you can read over your lunch break when you are feeling easily distracted, but you feel like you're too classy for a magazine/don't feel like carrying around a magazine.
