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New Gass Interview

  • John Madera

    • When Greg Gerke told me that there was a new interview with William Gass, I, of course, was excited, only to be dismayed by the format: brief, and often silly questions (e.g., “8. What’s your favorite color?”), with brief one- to two-line answers; but I was glad to find, unsurprisingly, that Gass still shines within this narrow form. So this has inspired me to ask you to answer the same questions in the comments section below.

    1. What is your current mood or state of mind?
    2. What makes you happy?
    3. What is your idea of misery?
    4. What did you eat for breakfast today?
    5. What’s one word that describes you?
    6. What trait do you value most in others?
    7. What’s your favorite occupation?
    8. What’s your favorite color?
    9. What is your favorite food?
    10. What food do you like the least?
    11. If you could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive), who would that be?
    12. What vice do you most tolerate in others?
    13. What talent do you wish you had?
    14. What excites you?
    15. What do you consider a turn off?
    16. What do you love?
    17. What do you hate?
    18. What are you most looking forward to?
    19. What is one thing you wish would happen?
    20. What is something you would will to happen?
    21. What’s something interesting that you just learned?
    22. What’s something you want to learn?
    23. What is your personal motto?
    24. In another life, you’d be:
    25. What is your current obsession?
    26. What is your favorite word?
    27. What is your least favorite word?
    28. What do you want to do before you die?
    29. Personal hero:
    30. If you could have a conversation with your younger self, what would you say?

    • John Madera is the author of Nervosities (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024) and Nomad Science (Spuyten Duyvil Press, forthcoming in 2026).  His  fiction is also published in Conjunctions, Salt Hill, Hobart, The &Now Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing, and many other journals. His poetry is also published in elimae, Sixth Finch, Contrapuntos, and elsewhere. His criticism is published in American Book Review, Bookforum, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Rain Taxi: Review of Books, The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, and many other venues. Recipient of an M.F.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University, two-time New York State Council on the Arts awardee John Madera lives in New York City, where he runs Rhizomatic and manages and edits Big Other.

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