That I can’t write.
What is your greatest fear?
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
Which teacher, parent, coach or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them?
Relationships
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
The exact prompt is fixed in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and independently sustained in The Guardian's The Q&A over multiple decades.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Having a stroke.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, October 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 256 →
Daryl McCormack
Irish actor
Not actualising my full potential.
Shakin' Stevens
Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter
A world without music.
Joseph Fiennes
English actor
That fear becomes too great.
More from John Grisham
View profile →I don’t care – I won’t be here.
This morning. I had a typical day: got up early, took the dog for a walk, went to the gym for an hour, then wrote for four hours. That makes me a very happy person.
Impatience; the inability to savor the moment.
Drop 20lb and lower my cholesterol.
I had the benefit of some very good high school English teachers. One in particular when I was a senior in high school. I was a jock, okay. I was not a student. Although I enjoyed reading, that was about it as far as academics. But she forced us to read good books and good writers, particularly good American writers. We weren’t too thrilled to do it initially, but she taught us how to do it. Through that, I discovered some of my favorite authors, particularly John Steinbeck. Once I had gone through all of Steinbeck’s books, I realized that I had had a wonderful experience.
When my mom died, on 18 January this year.
More on identity & self
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 243 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 195 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? 158 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 111 answers
- What are you most proud of? 103 answers
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Rose Tremain, Zadie Smith, Danielle Steel, Fran Lebowitz, Fay Ripley, Jane Asher
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