George Saunders
Short-story writer and novelist
I’d like to have a more generous, less anxious mind.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
How would you like to die?
Death & what remains
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
Verbatim recurring item in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
My laziness. Not in work-related matters, but social laziness. Thank-you letters, organization, that sort of thing.
The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 10 June 2015 source ↗
Others on this question
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Megan Rapinoe
United States international footballer, 2006–2023
I wish I wasn’t so rash, but would I be me if I wasn’t?
I would care less about what people thought of me.
I’m not going to change anything about myself. I am happy and blessed with what God gave me, and I really have nothing to complain about.
More from Stephen Fry
View profile →Being found out.
Lying in one of two twin hammocks on an English lawn in June. A glass of something cool and vinous is balanced on my tummy. A speaker hanging above the tree plays Glenn Gould. A Wodehouse novel is spread-eagled on my chest. I will pick it up in a moment. Oh, the other hammock is occupied by my beloved husband.
Over two weeks, in a pleasant fug of palliative morphine if necessary. Just time to say a cheerful good-bye to everyone.
Probably Daniel Barenboim. His blend of insane talent, intellect, and profound humanitarianism is one that comes along very, very rarely. I would put Martina Navratilova and Stephen Sondheim in a tie for second.
More on identity & self
- What is your greatest fear? 255 answers
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 243 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 192 answers
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? 158 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 110 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Carrie Fisher, Robert De Niro, Sally Field, Danielle Steel, Elmore Leonard, George Saunders
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