Seriously, is there a better interviewer of authors out there than Ol' Robert Birnbaum? His work at both The Identity Theory and The Morning News is remarkably well done. To begin with, he doesn't take the easy (ie, EWN Method) way out and just email a bunch of questions - he actually sits down with these folks and chats for what much be nearly an hour.
So, he obviously needs to know their work inside and out, not just pick and choose the spots he'll talk about. He also shows a great ability to realize when he's begun a tangent that might not be worthwhile following up on, diverting back on track quickly. He sets the authors at ease early on in the interviews. His latest effort, with Thomas Beller, has the two of them realizing there is also a small underlying repetition in Birnbaum's interviews, beyond the distinct scope of the recent work in question. That is, Birnbaum has a vast understanding of the literary industry, and often slides in some discussion about publishing, publicity, or other aspects of the business, without making it all about marketing the book.
All that, and he's a dog lover who allows Rosie in on many of the interviews!
He also has impeccable taste, having interviewed many EWN members in recent times including:
Marc Estrin, Blake Bailey, Don Lee, Tom Franklin, Karl Iagnemma, and a plethora of others (not including the many authors who scoff at the idea of the EWN!).
Read him and then take his suggestions and read those he interviews - the man knows what is worthy of your time.
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