Zadie Smith
Novelist and essayist
Violent death. Death generally.
What is your greatest fear?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What do you value most in your friends?
Relationships
Question
How would you like to die?
Death & what remains
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
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.
I know we all have to die, but when my time comes, I’d rather it not be because a goose flew into the engine of a plane I’m on.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2016 source ↗
Others on this question
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Marina Abramović
Performance artist
To be eaten by a shark.
Figuratively doing nothing.
Jim Kerr
Scottish singer and songwriter
I have a mild fear of not being appreciative enough for the luck that has come my way. That’s about it.
More from Gayle King
View profile →Oprah Winfrey. She always does the right thing—even when no one is looking.
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I’d like to die anytime after the age of 90—in my sleep!
I’m disorganized.
It’s a toss-up between mean and petty.
Close friends, spectacular food, gorgeous weather, and interesting conversation!
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
Also answered this
Jerry Lewis, David Hasselhoff, Tom Lubbock, Scott Mills, Daphne Guinness, Serena Williams
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- All identity & self questions
- The The Proust Questionnaire questionnaire — 5 questions from the same format
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