Salon Series: A Conversation with Zadie Smith and Jeffrey Eugenides

[@ladylo-fi6979]

Loved this conversation! Two of my favorite writers.

[@jacklu1190]

Thank you for putting this up

[@rashmika9742]

Skip the intro: 3:20

[@lavachebeadsman]

Anyone know the title of the book Zadie is talking about 51:45?

[@kellariq-7430]

I believe she is talking about the book Good will come from the sea by author Christos Ikonomou.

[@christianharbin7979]

Loved this interview

[@billyalarie2841]

not even 10 minutes in and i'm feeling the hurt

[@kamalpreetsingh1686]

Awesome conversation......

[@michaelcummings8763]

47:45 I am dying to know what Zadie thought about Mank

[@HomeAtLast501]

Keli is a CUTIE!

[@georgeshealy5068]

phenomenal questions

[@Chris-qc8ow]

Love this

[@brainsareus]

The interviewer kept asking the same fucking question, with some slight alterations.

[@rjmoney9]

Two literary geniuses, imo

[@Straussgirl230]

i think talent is talent. but sometimes i wonder if their is an innate thing carried in creatives writers, singers, filmmakers. 'The Drama of the gifted child'.

[@outragedamerican1149]

I don't think you are born with any innate leaning toward anything. Your upbringing, education, socialisation and opportunities (or lack of) mould the person who you are and what you pursue. A kid who is never introduced to books will never be a writer. A kid who is never taught the play the piano will never be a pianist. A huge amount of luck is involved to be a success at anything. Jay Z happened to have stumbled upon a certain set of circumstances that led him down the path to being Jay Z.

[@jacklu1190]

+outraged american maybe there is something innate. Eugenides said "being a misfit" was prerequisite. I think so too. If you don't have this outsider perspective, if the world appears to you the only world there is, you won't have imagination to create anything original. The appearance of neurotic behavior is usually a sign that a person might be creative.

[@lordbunbury]

@@jon8004 Having a feeling for what works and doesn’t; having an ear for the right phrase, picking up on mimicking people, being observative, etc is something some people are better at than others. You can give two people a guitar or a football and both can become decent at playing, but the chance that one of them becomes really good is not that high. So many people play football and never make it. So many play guitar, so many people write. True talent is really rare. Michael Jordan or Jimmy Hendrix is not something anyone can aspire to by working hard. Even these two gifted writers can write all they want all day and never be on the level of Nabokov.

[@dominicm255]

Americans never sound as bright as the brits

[@kkhushkkhush9892]

Oh Jefferey is white? I thought he is Arab with a christian-sounding name

[@brainsareus]

Oh, you have an identity box, do you?

[@kkhushkkhush9892]

Yes I am a closeted racist, like most.

[@HomeAtLast501]

I can't take all this pseudo-intellectualism.

[@bhattkris]

these folks are incredibly glib and pretentious including the interviewer. they hardly think before talking.

[@justforschool5173]

To be fair this is a public interview with an audience, that doesn't leave as much time to think as say, a recorded video might. But despite their lack of time and ability to prepare, I thought they gave wonderfully thoughtful answers.