In 1890, a teenage Marcel Proust (famous French writer) answered a series of personality questions in a "confessions album" (a popular parlor game at the time). His answers were so poignant the series of questions eventually became known as the "Proust Questionnaire". The magazine Vanity Fair as well as the TV show "Inside the Actors' Studio" has used them to interview celebrities for decades.
"Only through art can we get outside of ourselves and know another's view of the universe"
-Marcel Proust
Here are Proust's original responses, taken from the Wikipedia article (note how he revised his answers later).
The Vanity Fair Version
Vanity Fair has modernized the questions somewhat...here are the answers music icon David Bowie gave:
What is your idea of perfect happiness? Reading.
What is your most marked characteristic? Getting a word in edgewise.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Discovering morning.
What is your greatest fear? Converting kilometers to miles.
What historical figure do you most identify with? Santa Claus.
Which living person do you most admire? Elvis.
Who are your heroes in real life? The consumer.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? While in New York, tolerance. Outside New York, intolerance.
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Talent.
What is your favorite journey? The road of artistic excess.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Sympathy and originality.
Which word or phrases do you most overuse? “Chthonic,” “miasma.”
What is your greatest regret? That I never wore bellbottoms.
What is your current state of mind? Pregnant.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be? My fear of them (wife and son excluded).
What is your most treasured possession? A photograph held together by cellophane tape of Little Richard that I bought in 1958, and a pressed and dried chrysanthemum picked on my honeymoon in Kyoto.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Living in fear.
Where would you like to live? Northeast Bali or south Java.
What is your favorite occupation? Squishing paint on a senseless canvas.
What is the quality you most like in a man? The ability to return books.
What is the quality you most like in a woman? The ability to burp on command.
What are your favorite names? Sears & Roebuck.
What is your motto? “What” is my motto.
What now? Your Challenge...
You are encouraged to view some of the celebrity Proust Questionnaire interviews (easily searchable and many are on video)
Next, access the questions here: https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2000/01/proust-questionnaire
Try your best to answer (on a Google Doc) all 35 thoughtfully. Your responses need not be lengthy, just carefully considered.
Have this ready for next class. We will be expanding on this in various ways.
