Donna Tartt
American novelist and writer
I was very disappointed when I realised I was never going to be an Olympic gymnast, but that was a long time ago.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
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What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
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Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
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When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
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Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
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How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
After I got arrested, my dad, a lawyer, took me to a QC to try to build a case against the FBI. The dejection on his face when it became obvious that we couldn’t was disappointing.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 May 2018 source ↗
Others on this question
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Jake Shears
Singer and songwriter; co-lead vocalist of Scissor Sisters
The realisation that I am no longer young.
Heston Blumenthal
English chef
When we bought the contaminated oysters and I made the decision to close the Fat Duck, not knowing if I would ever open again.
Christy Turlington Burns
American model
My father’s death before my marriage and motherhood.
More from Adeel Akhtar
View profile →In Brooklyn, I was a dishwasher in a sandwich shop.
My mum, because she smuggled me into the National Youth Theatre during summer time when my dad didn’t want me to be an actor, and she’s seen everything I’ve done.
At boarding school, I was unable to get the main part in Hamlet, so I put on a production of The Homecoming with my friends. The teachers came to see it and said they didn’t know I had it in me. It felt very good.
A snazzy coffee machine that grinds beans and steams milk.
I fell off a ladder, landed on my back, got up and was fine.
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