Book 9: All I Did Was Ask by Terry Gross

In the introduction, Gross writes, "You may be wondering what the point is of reading interviews that were meant to be listened to." Why, yes, actually, I kind of was wondering exactly that. She continues, "I've asked myself that. But in going through transcripts in preparation for this book, I was pleasantly surprised that so many of the interviews I remembered as having been good radio also made for enjoyable reading." This strikes me as sort of faint praise for one's own book, but it's pretty accurate. It is "enjoyable" reading this collection of transcripts from Fresh Air interviews, but not really much more than that. They're all interviews with people in the arts (interviews with journalists and politicians about current events don't hold up as well over time, Gross explains). The transcripts are heavily edited, best-of, sorts of things, so certainly this is faster than wading through the archives on the website. The downside is that Gross is the one who picks the interviews, so they're not necessarily with people you care about (or have even heard of). I was hoping for more gossip about what the various interview subjects were like behind the scenes; there's a little of that, but not enough. Staid, tasteful, public radio gossip is all you get.