The Poet at the Piano

by Michiko Kakutani

Gathers interviews with writers, directors, playwrights, producers, and performers and shares their views on their work

247 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 1988

About the author

Michiko Kakutani is a Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic and the former chief book critic of The New York Times.

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. It paints vivid pictures of the artists being profiled and shows how the boundary between reality and fiction is often nothing more than a thin sheet.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Descubrí a la Sra. Kakutani por sus criticas en el NYT y leí este libro porque supe que incluía a Borges. Y qué grata sorpresa. El libro es una colección de artículos basados en entrevistas con diversos autores, no solo literarios, sino también directores de cine y actores. Kakutani los retrata con gusto e inteligencia, evitando los lugares comunes y adaptando el tono a la persona, huyendo de la continua máscara grave de otros críticos (sí, Harold, te miro a ti). Podemos leer capítulos como el del monumental Borges hablando de técnica y artesanía junto a una joven Liza Minelli sobre lo que es ser actriz. Y Kakutani tiene el mérito de no trivializar en ningún caso y hacer que personas tan dispares como Bellow, Updike o Spielberg convivan en capítulos muy cercanos dando a cada uno su dignidad y sin quitar un ápice de ella a nadie.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that Kakutani is retiring from the New York Times, I thought it well worth to read some of her short pieces and I was mostly pretty engaged by them. However, these pieces truly are journalism, a slice of a particular point in time, (say at the failure of a particular work). They can in no way be considered biographies. Kakutani expects a certain level of basic knowledge from her readers. The piece on Bergman was really good, a sketch to be sure, but I felt that she conveyed the personality of Bergman to a T. Her scholarship shone through as she delved into the director's journey from Lutheran to Deism (awed fear to confident neglect) and how that played out in his films from the 7th Seal upto Scenes from a Marriage. The Eudora Welty piece was banal though for I don't think the yankee Kakutani got the southern mind. However, she was able to convey something in the Joan Didion and the Gore Vidal pieces: the neurosis of a middle class American obcesding about safety and the narcism of a man with self-doubt. This book proves the old j-school axiom about needing to be close (geographically even) to the subject to portray it.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dated, but entertaining nevertheless. Most fascinated with the short interviews done with Borges (didn't know he had turned blind!), Cheever, Gore Vidal (what a bitchy guy), Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, Ingmar Bergman, Louis Malle and Tennessee Williams. My favorite interview: Billy Wilder. Michiko Kakutani must be a very patient, relentless interviewer. Borrowed from the collection of Berneval Montes.

First read this before I had my reading group. It was from the collection of Mr. Montes. Reread it in November 2018, expecting to give it a higher rating. Turns out I'm still giving it the same rating, the same review. And Billy Wilder is still my favorite interviewee.

[A.D. Morel]

How can I rate a book I have not yet read, and 5 stars no less? because it's Kakutani, of course! Where else would I go with this! Thank you, Michiko, for trying to keep the brow up, the pitch perfect, and the high end of literature in view. XOXO

[Alex Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, a lot of these dragged - but the conversation with Joan Didion was amazing.

[Holly Langton]

I am mostly interested in this book because it includes Joan Didion.

[Peter S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly enjoyed the portraits of Roth, Wiesel, Bergman, Newman, and Borges. Great way to learn about a lot of the great artists (authors, directors, actors, and playwrights) of the 20th century.