Yo-Yo Ma
Cellist
I love to break rules.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
Taste & recommendation
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Appearing angry when I’m not angry.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 December 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →Taking myself seriously, even in a Vanity Fair quiz.
Edward Enninful
Ghanaian-born English editor and stylist
Impatience. Though sometimes it helps!
Lack of confidence in speaking to the opposite sex.
More from Siobhán McSweeney
View profile →Loving, odd, playful. Jeepers, I’ve described myself like a damaged rescue puppy.
A better knee and better lungs.
On stage. Always on stage. God that’s depressing, isn’t it?
So many. I have been very cowardly in the past, and it came across as me not caring, when the opposite was true.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to insult you, but did you know you look a bit like that actress Siobhán McSweeney?”
I feel no shame about not reading a book. That’s silly.
More on identity & self
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Scott Mills, Daphne Guinness, Sally Field, Adele Parks, Danielle Steel, Jerry Lewis
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