More gems from the Writer's Symposium.

Gay Talese is probably best known for what Esquire magazine called the greatest story ever published in their pages: "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold." He also wrote for the New York Times and the New Yorker, and has published many books of what is often called creative non-fiction. I read his memoir, pictured above, over Christmas break in anticipation of his visit to my school.



Interview-style, as Anchee Min did a few nights ago, he spoke of the path he's taken as a writer. For a story that later would frame the memoir, "I spent five months in China . . . Much of my reporting is just hanging out with people. I don't interview them at first; I just hang out."

He explained that most, perhaps 80%, of his research never ends up published. "You ask, who cares? Well, you can't ask who cares, because so often the answer is nobody."

He also derided the stringent pragmatism of modern life, emphasizing the importance of slow, involved investigation. "Any intelligent person could Google [a fact] in five minutes. When I'm looking through an encyclopedia, I might find something else that I wasn't looking for. . . . I think the problem with journalism today—it might be a problem with life today—is that people are too goal-oriented."