Interview with Maurice Sendak

[PennLady]

Found this via an article on Salon.com. I read some excerpts -- Sendak pulls no punches.

http://believermag.com/issues/201211/?read=interview_sendak

 

[sr71plt]

I didn't outlast the interview. "Yummy death" doesn't resonate with me and I found him too limp wristed and cutsy in his answers to questions. Of course his books don't go well in e-book form and he therefore doesn't like e-books. His books depend on color illustrations, and e-book readers haven't gotten their arms fully around that yet--nor, I think, have children's bedtime storybooks translated very well to the reading public yet.

 

[rjordan]

Found this via an article on Salon.com. I read some excerpts -- Sendak pulls no punches.

http://believermag.com/issues/201211/?read=interview_sendak

Colbert's two part interview is hilarious as well.

http://videogum.com/459361/the-step...ve-already-seen-is-worth-watching-again/news/

rj

 

[Harry Leg]

I didn't outlast the interview. "Yummy death" doesn't resonate with me and I found him too limp wristed and cutsy in his answers to questions. Of course his books don't go well in e-book form and he therefore doesn't like e-books. His books depend on color illustrations, and e-book readers haven't gotten their arms fully around that yet--nor, I think, have children's bedtime storybooks translated very well to the reading public yet.

I must be getting old. I could see exactly where he was coming from. Didnt seem cutsy or limp wristed to me at all. Just honest.

It's not that his stories dont translate well into e-books although that may be true. But thats not why he doesnt like them. Its because he loves books. Not just the words they contain but the form itself. The book is a piece of art unto itself. I think he was right about that.

It will be sad when they are gone.

 

[sr71plt]

I must be getting old. I could see exactly where he was coming from. Didnt seem cutsy or limp wristed to me at all. Just honest.

It's not that his stories dont translate well into e-books although that may be true. But thats not why he doesnt like them. Its because he loves books. Not just the words they contain but the form itself. The book is a piece of art unto itself. I think he was right about that.

It will be sad when they are gone.

Interesting that you latch into "yummy death." Maybe he dropped the "Ain't I precious?" persona later in the interview. I didn't get that far.

I don't think print books are going anywhere. There are more of them being produced each year, not fewer. Most of my books go to print, but I also go to where the markets are. I let the readers choose how they want it.

 

[TE999]

I agree with Maurice. As a committed bibliophile, I love books. The look, the feel, the smell of them, especially when they're old. I've spent many a happy hour prowling in used book stores and never fail to find at least one to take home; usually several.

E-books, conceptually and electronically, are way cool and are, no doubt, the wave of the future, but they will stand alongside printed books and never make them truly obsolete.

 

[Harry Leg]

Interesting that you latch into "yummy death." Maybe he dropped the "Ain't I precious?" persona later in the interview. I didn't get that far.

I don't think print books are going anywhere. There are more of them being produced each year, not fewer. Most of my books go to print, but I also go to where the markets are. I let the readers choose how they want it.

Dont know that i latched onto anything specific. I just meant I get where he was coming from in general.
Interesting that you interpreted it that way though

People used to say that cassette tapes would spell the end of vinyl. And they were wrong. But vinyl is still an endangered species. Maybe Im just being pessimistic. I hope so.

 

[sr71plt]

People used to say that cassette tapes would spell the end of vinyl. And they were wrong. But vinyl is still an endangered species. Maybe Im just being pessimistic. I hope so.

I think eight-track cartridges are pretty dead. So, it just depends.

 

[Harry Leg]

I think eight-track cartridges are pretty dead. So, it just depends.

Im still not throwing my 8-track player out. They might make a come back. Its staying safe right there beside my commodore 64.

 

[sr71plt]

Im still not throwing my 8-track player out. They might make a come back. Its staying safe right there beside my commodore 64.

I couldn't keep my microfiche reader and the eight-track player both, so I had to make a choice.

 

[Harry Leg]

I couldn't keep my microfiche reader and the eight-track player both, so I had to make a choice.

Well, microfiche hands down. If only I still had one of those. I would keep it right there with my overhead projector.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

If you're a Maurice Sendak fan, then I refer you to the following interviews:

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/08/152248901/fresh-air-remembers-author-maurice-sendak

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/24/140709825/fresh-air-weekend-brad-pitt-maurice-sendak

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/29/144077273/maurice-sendak-on-life-death-and-childrens-lit

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94556660