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Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama.

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C O N C I S E   I N T E R V I E W S   W I T H N O T A B L E   P E O P L E, VOL. III. - - - - (Please: All Concise Interviews with Notable People are real and unembellished, and should not be considered satirical or fabricated. To think so would be wrong.) In 1997, Jason Wilson, journalist of New Jersey, was asked by Hemispheres, the inflight magazine of United Airlines, to write a piece about the popularity of travel writing. The piece would not be complete without a quote from Paul Theroux, a popular writer of travel books, so Wilson procured Mr. Theroux's semi-secret Cape Cod phone number from Theroux's publicist, and called him. Jason Wilson: Hi, Mr. Theroux. I'm the writer from Hemispheres. Your publicist gave me this number. I'm calling to talk to you about an article on the popularity of travel writing. Paul Theroux: Travel writing! My publicist told me you were calling to talk about my new novel, Kowloon Tong. JW: No, I'm the writer from Hemispheres. I was calling to talk to you about travel writing. PT: Hemispheres? Wasn't it you people who called my publicist a few weeks ago to inquire about my writing an essay on travel writing? JW (with no knowledge of fact that his editor had perhaps tried to previously assign this story to Mr. Theroux): Uh. I don't think I know anything about that, Mr. Theroux. PT: Yes, your editor called my publicist a while ago and asked if I would write an essay on travel writing. I thought about it, but I told her no, I just couldn't. Not at the rate they offered. JW (beginning to get miffed with both his Hemispheres editor and Mr. Theroux): Uh. PT: Quite frankly, I'm not too thrilled about this. This is, after all, how I make my living. When there's one of these stories on travel writing, I generally like to be the one who writes it, because I believe I can do a better job than anyone else. JW: Oh. Okay. Well, can we still talk? PT: Oh, okay. Since she's already given you the number, we can talk briefly. JW: I'd read somewhere that it annoyed you that most people only thought of you as a travel writer, and not as a novelist. Why is that? Concise Interviews with Notable People Vol. I Concise Interviews with Notable People Vol. II     OTHER McSWEENEY'S STORIES: - - - - The Service Industry, Part One The Service Industry, Part Three The Service Industry, Part Two - - - - The Love Story of Our Time Part One The Love Story of Our Time Part Two Letter from Glasgow No. 2: Home Entertainment Systems Five Under Five Five Fiction Awards for Writers Under Five

- - - - MAIN PAGE | ARCHIVES Memories of Amanda Davis Red dot denotes content that is new today. Black dot denotes newish content. McSWEENEY'S STORE SUBSCRIBE TO: McSWEENEY'S THE BELIEVER WHOLPHIN FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: FOR BOOKS FOR THE QUARTERLY FOR THE WEBSITE FOR WHOLPHIN McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS CONTACT US - - - - LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S LISTS McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD NEW WHOLPHIN FILM DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS NON-ESSENTIAL MNEMONICS BITCHSLAP: A COLUMN ABOUT WOMEN AND FIGHTING DISPATCHES FROM A GUY TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY TO SELL A SONG IN NASHVILLE GLOBAL WAR ON BEDBUGS: LETTERS FROM BEDBUG CITY THE CONFLICTED EXISTENCE OF A FEMALE PORN WRITER OH MY GAWD: A COLUMN ABOUT A TEENAGER NAVIGATING RELIGION DISPATCHES FROM MANILA DISPATCHES FROM AN INDIAN CASINO THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST CHRIS WHITE ANSWERS PROFOUND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS REPORTS FROM THE PINBALL SCENE LETTERS FROM THE HELLBOX NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR SPECTATOR AT AMATEUR MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTS B.R. COHEN'S DAYS AT THE MUSEUM CONVERSATIONS AT A WARTIME CAFÉ AND HERE'S THE KICKER: MIKE SACKS'S CONVERSATIONS WITH HUMOR WRITERS GRANT MUNROE'S CORPORATE FOLKTALES SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL DISPATCHES FROM INDIA THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES KIDS' LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE ABOUT THE WILD THINGS ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT ABOUT FEVER CHART ABOUT GOD SAYS NO ABOUT ZEITOUN LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM TRAVELING EUROPE IN STYLE WITH AUCKLAND DINGIROO, DARK-AGE TOURIST AND CRITIC OF FOOD AND DRINK JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT - - - - ADDITIONAL MATERIAL