All I Did Was Ask: Interviews from "Fresh Air with Terry Gross"

A fascinating collection of revealing and entertaining interviews by the award-winning host of National Public Radio's premier interview program Fresh Air.

Over the last twenty years, Terry Gross has interviewed many of our most celebrated writers, actors, musicians, comics, and visual artists. Her show, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues produced by WHYY in Philadelphia, is one of National Public Radio's most popular programs. More than four million people tune in to the show, which is broadcast on over 400 NPR stations across the country.

Gross is known for her thoughtful, probing interviewing style. In her trusted company, even the most reticent guest relaxes and opens up. But Gross doesn't shy away from controversy, and her questions can be tough — too tough, apparently, for Bill O'Reilly, who abruptly terminated his conversation with her. Her interview with Gene Simmons of Kiss, which is included in the book, prompted Entertainment Weekly to name Simmons its male "Crackpot of the Year."

For All I Did Was Ask, Gross has selected more than three dozen of her best interviews — ones of lasting relevance that are as lively on the page as they were on the air. Each is preceded by a personal introduction in which she reveals why a particular guest was on the show and the thinking behind some of her questions. And in an introductory chapter, the normally self-effacing Gross does something you're unlikely ever to hear her do on Fresh Air — she discusses her approach to interviewing, revealing a thing or two about herself in the bargain.

The collection focuses on luminaries from the art and entertainment world, including actors, comedians, writers, visual artists, and musicians, such as:

• Conan O'Brien
• Chris Rock
• Michael Caine
• Dennis Hopper
• Dustin Hoffman
• Jodie Foster
• John Updike
• Mary Karr
• Mario Puzo
• Nick Hornby
• Chuck Close
• Eric Clapton
• George Clinton
• Sonny Rollins
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Johnny Cash
• Isabella Rossellini
• Divine
• Uta Hagen
• Carol Shields

"Conducting a good interview requires exhaustive research, good timing, the ability to steer the interview back on course when it meanders, a knack for close listening and thinking about the next question, flexibility and editing skills. Gross, the polite and generous host of NPR's Fresh Air, is a pro, and here she collects some of her favorite interviews with people in the arts. The result is a wide-ranging and entertaining look into the creative process. With a few exceptions, the interviews are from the show's national broadcast debut year in 1987, but they never seem dated, as many of the guests are still active or well known, and the topics are timeless. Whether she's asking Johnny Cash about the difference between a singer and a song stylist, discussing the role of class in British actor Michael Caine's life or examining the eternal intricacies of the human face with Chuck Close, Gross remains sensitive, engaged and informed. The two notable exceptions are her interviews with cable opinion-slinger Bill O'Reilly and Kiss front man Gene Simmons, whose pugnacity and sexism, respectively, unseat the usually collected host and challenge her to summon interview skills she rarely exercises. Overall, however, this is an often funny and completely fascinating anthology. Agent, Jonathan Lazear. (Sept. 8) Forecast: Magazine features and cross-promotions with NPR should give Gross's book a boost." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"If interviewing people is like picking locks, Terry Gross...holds a master key." The Los Angeles Times

"Almost all of [Gross's interviewees] come up with some remarkable observation, from the piquant to the extraordinary." Kirkus Reviews

Gross has transcribed 39 interviews from her weekday public radio program Fresh Air with people from the art and literature community. Among them are Johnny Cash, Mickey Spillane, Jodie Foster, Divine, Isabella Rossellini, Eric Clapton, James Baldwin, and Maurice Sendak. There is no index or bibliography.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A fascinating collection of revealing and entertaining interviews by the award-winning host of National Public Radio's premier interview program Fresh Air.

For this collection, Gross has selected more than three dozen of her best interviews for NPR's Fresh Air — ones of lasting relevance that are as lively on the page as they were on the air.

For this collection, award-winning interviewer Terry Gross has selected more than three dozen of her most entertaining and revealing interviews for National Public Radio's premier program "Fresh Air." Known for her thoughtful, probing style, Gross precedes each of the more than three dozen selections with an explanation of why each guest was on the show and the thinking behind some of her question. 1-40130-010-3$24.95 / Time Warner Book Group

Terry Gross started out in public radio in 1973 at WBFO in Buffalo. Soon after, she became producer and host of Fresh Air, then a live, daily show broadcast locally, at WHYY in Philadelphia in 1975. A weekly, half-hour edition of the show premiered nationally in 1985 and soon won an International Radio Festival of New York Gold Medal and a prestigious Ohio State Award. Fresh Air debuted nationally in its current hour-long version in 1987, and won the Peabody Award in 1994 for its "probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insights." Terry Gross is a graduate of the State University of Buffalo and she lives in Philadelphia.