People
Robert Birnbaum
Writer, photographer, and acclaimed interviewer Robert Birnbaum talks about his favorite books, chats with Richard Russo, and the deep affections between Charlie Rose and Cartier-Bresson.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- First Scary Movies (Of Recent Note)
- Beloved Children's Books (Of Recent Note)
- Superpowers, Revealed (Of Recent Note)
Also by Rosecrans Baldwin
» SEE MORE
- Bill Keaggy (March 28, 2005)
- Clear Cut Press (July 15, 2004)
- Martha Nussbaum (May 27, 2004)
Also in People
» SEE MORE
SOCKING STUFFERS
If a Bird Can’t Fly It Walks
Sanguine and adhesive, our bumper sticker makes a swell gift for anyone who’s swearing off excuses in the new year.» ORDER NOW
Name, Date of Birth, Web site if you have one: Robert Birnbaum, 20 February 1947, Identitytheory.com
Occupation title(s), both real and desired-in-another-lifetime: Journalist (writer/photographer/editor/creative director/publisher). I don’t have enough imagination to think what I might be in another lifetime.
What makes you laugh: Everything
Out of all the interviews you’ve conducted, the most enjoyable chat you’ve had: Very, very, very tough to answer. If I had to answer (you know, a gun to my head and all that), I will say that the three or four times I have talked with Richard Russo have been fun.
Heroes: Howard Zinn, Studs Terkel, Robert Frank, Angela Davis, IF Stone, Susan Meiselas, Anthony Braxton, Jose Marti, Eduardo Galeano, George Orwell
Unsung authors of the last century we’ll see revered in the next: I have no clue
Traits required in a good interviewer: I don’t know. I think you have to love your conversational partner. I am not particularly fond of Charlie Rose but the best interview I ever saw him do was with Henri Cartier-Bresson. I think he loved that man.
Favorite books:
One Hundred Years of Solitude—Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Man With the Golden Arm—Nelson Algren
The English Patient—Micheal Ondaatje
Los Gusanos—John Sayles
Caramelo—Sandra Cisneros
Ninety Two In The Shade—Thom McGuane
Dreaming in Cuban—Christine Garcia
Mile Zero—Thomas Sanchez
In the Foreseeable Future—Reynolds Price
Bargains in the Real World - Elizabeth Cox
All the Pretty Horses—Cormac McCarthy
Dog Soldiers—Robert Stone
The Sweet Hereafter—Russell Banks
Immortality—Milan Kundera
Wildlife—Richard Ford
Burning Marguerite—Elizabeth Iness-Brown
Shadow Play—Charles Baxter
Imagining Argentina—Lawrence Thornton
Nobody’s Fool—Richard Russo
Even A Blind Man Can Tell I Love You—Amy Bloom
Our House in the Last World—Oscar Hijuelos
Enduring Love—Ian McEwen
The Glass Palace—Amitav Ghosh
The Missing World—Margot Livesey
Swordfish—David McLintock
The Poet—Michael Connelly
Plain Song—Kent Harouf
House of the Spirits—Isabel Allende
A Good Day To Die—Jim Harrison
Einstein’s Dreams—Alan Lightman
In the Cut—Susanna Moore
Bullet Heart—Michael Doane
The Devil’s Own Work—Alan Judd
All Our Yesterdays—Robert Parker
Being Dead—Jim Crace
Almost Heaven—Marianne Wiggins
Shelly’s Heart—Charles McCarry
Crossing to Safety—Wallace Stegner
The World At Night—Alan Furst
The Last Thing He Wanted—Joan Didion
The Hours—Michael Cunningham
The World As I Found It—Bruce Duffy
The Conformist—Albert Moravia
Badland—Jonathan Raban
Taking Lives—Michael Pye
This is an arbitrary list. If asked on another day, I think it might be different, give or take ten books…
Five words that sound great: Implore, Purloin, Mellifluous, Revolution, Dystopian
Charity worth giving to: Doctors Without Borders
Occupation title(s), both real and desired-in-another-lifetime: Journalist (writer/photographer/editor/creative director/publisher). I don’t have enough imagination to think what I might be in another lifetime.
What makes you laugh: Everything
Out of all the interviews you’ve conducted, the most enjoyable chat you’ve had: Very, very, very tough to answer. If I had to answer (you know, a gun to my head and all that), I will say that the three or four times I have talked with Richard Russo have been fun.
Heroes: Howard Zinn, Studs Terkel, Robert Frank, Angela Davis, IF Stone, Susan Meiselas, Anthony Braxton, Jose Marti, Eduardo Galeano, George Orwell
Unsung authors of the last century we’ll see revered in the next: I have no clue
Traits required in a good interviewer: I don’t know. I think you have to love your conversational partner. I am not particularly fond of Charlie Rose but the best interview I ever saw him do was with Henri Cartier-Bresson. I think he loved that man.
Favorite books:
One Hundred Years of Solitude—Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Man With the Golden Arm—Nelson Algren
The English Patient—Micheal Ondaatje
Los Gusanos—John Sayles
Caramelo—Sandra Cisneros
Ninety Two In The Shade—Thom McGuane
Dreaming in Cuban—Christine Garcia
Mile Zero—Thomas Sanchez
In the Foreseeable Future—Reynolds Price
Bargains in the Real World - Elizabeth Cox
All the Pretty Horses—Cormac McCarthy
Dog Soldiers—Robert Stone
The Sweet Hereafter—Russell Banks
Immortality—Milan Kundera
Wildlife—Richard Ford
Burning Marguerite—Elizabeth Iness-Brown
Shadow Play—Charles Baxter
Imagining Argentina—Lawrence Thornton
Nobody’s Fool—Richard Russo
Even A Blind Man Can Tell I Love You—Amy Bloom
Our House in the Last World—Oscar Hijuelos
Enduring Love—Ian McEwen
The Glass Palace—Amitav Ghosh
The Missing World—Margot Livesey
Swordfish—David McLintock
The Poet—Michael Connelly
Plain Song—Kent Harouf
House of the Spirits—Isabel Allende
A Good Day To Die—Jim Harrison
Einstein’s Dreams—Alan Lightman
In the Cut—Susanna Moore
Bullet Heart—Michael Doane
The Devil’s Own Work—Alan Judd
All Our Yesterdays—Robert Parker
Being Dead—Jim Crace
Almost Heaven—Marianne Wiggins
Shelly’s Heart—Charles McCarry
Crossing to Safety—Wallace Stegner
The World At Night—Alan Furst
The Last Thing He Wanted—Joan Didion
The Hours—Michael Cunningham
The World As I Found It—Bruce Duffy
The Conformist—Albert Moravia
Badland—Jonathan Raban
Taking Lives—Michael Pye
This is an arbitrary list. If asked on another day, I think it might be different, give or take ten books…
Five words that sound great: Implore, Purloin, Mellifluous, Revolution, Dystopian
Charity worth giving to: Doctors Without Borders
—Published January 23, 2003
