How do great writers succeed? For over half a century, the Paris Review has extracted some of the most revealing and bold thoughts expressed by literary authorities of our time. The magazine's editors have spoken with many of the world's leading novelists, poets, playwrights, and critics, and the interviews themselves have garnered recognition as classic literary works, serving as a substantive and thorough record of the writing life.

The Paris Review has facilitated fruitful discussions with the greatest writers of our time, providing vivid self-portraits that in themselves constitute works of authentic literature. From William Faulkner's firm belief that to write a worthwhile novel requires "ninety-nine percent talent... ninety-nine percent discipline... ninety-nine percent work," to Gabriel García Márquez, who observes that "in the first paragraph, you solve most of the problems of your book," the Paris Review has managed to elicit revealing and bold thoughts from the most skilled novelists, poets, and critics in the modern world.

In "The Art of Writing," the in-depth interviews of ten prominent authors (five Nobel laureates and all highly awarded) are included, given to the internationally acclaimed magazine Paris Review, where they reveal in detail the secrets of their craft: T.S. Eliot, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway, Saul Bellow, Jorge Luis Borges, Graham Greene, William Faulkner, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Gabriel García Márquez, Harold Bloom.

What writers said about their interviews in the Paris Review: "I have all the issues of the Paris Review and I really like the interviews. They will make a good book when they gather them into an anthology, and that will be very good for the Review." (Ernest Hemingway) "The Paris Review interviews offered us and continue to offer the best insight into how great writers think and what ethics they adopt in their work. When read all together, they are almost equivalent to a master's degree in the arts that one can obtain while sitting alone on their couch. Every page of this collection offers an unexpectedly strange pleasure." (Dave Eggers)

"The Paris Review interviews are objects of admiration that shaped my earliest and most indelible impressions of what it meant to be a writer. Even today, I ascribe any saying that still lingers in my memory to these pages, even if they never appeared there." (Jonathan Lethem) "The Paris Review interviews have the best questions, the best answers, and are undoubtedly the best way to sneak a peek into what the best writers (and interviewers) in the world keep hidden in their minds. Reading all these interviews is like a wonderful tour through the entire spectrum of literary life." (Susan Orlean)

"At their best, the Paris Review interviews lift the veil of literary personalities to reveal the essence of flesh-and-blood authors. By exposing the inner workings of writing, they place the reader in the position of guiding lever of literature." (Billy Collins) "I have always been fascinated by the Paris Review interviews, both old and new. Together, they represent perhaps the most comprehensive exploration of the 'how' of literature, which is in many ways a far more interesting question than 'why.'" (Salman Rushdie)

What the press wrote about the interviews in the Paris Review: "Humor and clever quips are common delights in the Paris Review interviews... An exciting attempt to reach the heart of how authors work." "Here we have a rule of great minds... An exhilarating attempt to reach the heart of how authors work." (Financial Times) "It can't be anything less than shocking to ask the Olympian gods to explain themselves... Through their unique temperament, the arrows of malice, their small obsessions, and their jokes, these authors come to life." (Independent)

"The most significant and extensive work we have with interview content... A series of excursions, sometimes with a purpose and sometimes driven by whim, with digressions, stops for tea, and nebulous articulations." (The New York Times) "Stunning... This book will ignite curiosity and delight every serious reader or writer. It might even inspire them." (The Times Literary Supplement)

"They completely absorb you... They are all fascinating and often very funny." (The Boston Globe) "This magnificent literary magazine has quietly revealed the atmosphere of mystery surrounding some of the greatest writers of the last fifty years... Charming" (Daily Mail) "This book will ignite curiosity and delight every serious reader or writer. It might even inspire them." (Times)

"When Plimpton died, the literary world wondered: what will happen to the Paris Review? Now we know the answer. It has gotten even better." (Washington Post) "A little treasure. The interviews are literary landmarks, and the gossip, humor, ideas, and practical advice given are refreshing." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Sheer delight" (The Independent) "It catapults you into the heart of the most elite literary group, which is inevitably egotistical and emotionally fragile." (Observer) "It has a wealth of unexpected charms." (The Guardian) "A must-read for anyone interested in learning how writers work and why their writings continue to matter to us." (Daily Telegraph)

"Fascinating interviews... [The interviewees] analyze writing and their methods with unprecedented detail and honesty. Literary lovers will undoubtedly be satisfied, and aspiring writers will gain profound insights from these masters of writing." (The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)