The Proust Questionnaire

by William C. Carter, Henry-Jean Servat

Marcel Proust s questionnaire is one of the best-known interview devices used in the media nowadays. Fun, intelligent, and concise, it reveals much of the personality of those questioned.

While the Maison Darel has recently purchased the original Marcel Proust questionnaire, Assouline Publishing puts forth a facsimile version that contains Marcel Proust s handwritten replies.

An introduction by Henry-Jean Servat, a long-standing member of the Friends of Marcel Proust Society, provides a historical account of the questionnaire, and a foreword by William C. Carter imparts the significance of Proust today.

In addition, the book includes questionnaires filled by important persons with various cultural backgrounds; people such as Peter Lindbergh, Marisa Berenson, and Richard Meier. Some blank questionnaires are also included at the end, making this book an ideal gift.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Distinguished Professor of French. Ireland Award for Scholarly Distinction 2002. Specialist in Proust Studies and nineteenth- and twentieth-century French literature. Project Director for Marcel Proust at UAB, 1988, which was featured on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.” Palmes Académiques awarded by the French government in 1989. Inducted into Alabama Arts Hall of Fame, 1990. Prix Servir du Rotary International de Paris, 1992 Winner of the Alabama Association of Teachers of French 1994 Prix d’Excellence “for services rendered to French culture” 1994 and 2000. Named the Outstanding Foreign Language Teacher: Postsecondary by the Alabama Association of Foreign Language Teachers for 1999. He served as project director and coproducer for a prize-winning documentary, Marcel Proust: A Writer's Life, which aired nationally on PBS in 1993. This involved adapting works by Proust as well as selecting music, photography, and other archival material to tell the story of Proust's life. His book, The Proustian Quest, was selected by CHOICE as an “Outstanding Academic Book of 1993. His recent biography, Marcel Proust: A Life (Yale University Press, 2000), was selected by The New York Times Book Review,The Los Angeles Times, and the Sunday Times (London) as one of the best books of 2000. Harold Bloom in Genius calls Carter’s biography the “definitive” one. This biography was also selected by Foreword Magazine as “The Book of the Year” 2000 in the non-fiction category. That same year Professor Carter was invited by PEN America to be part of a special tribute to Proust at Lincoln Center. Carter is frequently interviewed and consulted on Marcel Proust by the national and international media, print, radio, and television. He is a member of the editorial board of the Proust journal Bulletin Marcel Proust and a permanent correspondent of the Proust Research Center at the Sorbonne. Carter’s most recent books are Proust in Love and The Memoirs of Ernest A. Forssgren: Proust’s Swedish Valet, both published in 2006 by Yale University Press.

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Proust Questionnaire is actually two questionnaires--one that Marcel Proust answered in 1886 in the pages of a friend's journal ("Confessions: An Album to Record Thoughts, Feelings, etc."), and the second, completed four years later when he was a wise, worldly man of twenty. This compiles Proust's answers to both questionnaires (in his glorious handwriting, no less), plus the responses to either version of the questionnaire from Brigitte Bardot, Luc Sante, Alain de Botton, Rosanna Arquette, Tony Parker, Diane von Furstenberg, and others. Some of the replies are unsurprising (the most disliked characters in history tend to be dictators), some are funny (Luc Sante's favorite occupation is "professional namer (giving names to, e.g., cars, drugs, asteroids)"), and some are just curious (both Bardot and Tony Parker list their favorite names as Emma and Linea). In the spirit of the source material, there are plenty of blank questionnaires in the back to pass around to friends--so, mes amis, you're all on notice: start thinking about your pet aversions and how you'd like to die!

[Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

E você aí, reclamando dos livros interativos e cadernos de perguntas: Proust tinha um e fazia os migo tudo responder.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an understatement to say that Marcel Proust was wise beyond his years, as a child even. The answers that he (and others) gave to the insightful questions that are asked challenged me to look a little deeper & think a lot harder before giving an average or first response answer. This is a beautiful book & one that I'm starting to give as a gift. Be good & you might get one :)

[Franklin H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a well-thought-out approach for those passionate about journalism or looking to conduct interviews. It serves as a practical guideline for eliciting concise and constructive responses, helping to maximize efficiency during interviews. I believe that once you practice these questionnaires, it will become much easier.

FHP

[Diana Raab · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for the perfect gift, one that will both inspire and intrigue your friends all year long, this hardbound 93-page volume is an elegant choice. Proust lived a long time ago, and is an enigma, of sorts, the questions he posed are timeless and can help us understand ourselves-our likes, dislikes, preferences and beliefs. It's also a great coffee table book, and the questions within could be asked outlaid as conversation starters or as part of a getting-acquainted game.

My favorite writer, Anais Nin, loved reading Proust, probably because of his passion for probing and analyzing the human psyche in its conscious and unconscious states; thus, the answers to his questions were intended to provide insight into the inner soul. According to Henry-Jean Servat, The Proust Questionnaire is one of "the most popular methods of interview used by media throughout the work, enjoying exceptional and indisputable renown" (p.14).

[Degan Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love questions so it's not surprising that I love this book, but I love how people's answers change over the years and also that there are black pages to continue the practice. Very thought-provoking and in many cases, surprisingly poetic.

[Marcelita Swann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction by William C. Carter.
Proustian friends complete their pages.

[Gwen Hurd]

A keepsake. Beautiful book with images, illustrations, and gold leaf. Looking forward to filling in the blank pages with responses from my family.