Conversations with Stoppard

Tom Stoppard is one of, if not the, most important living playwrights. His writings have covered a large range of subjects such as love, imperialism, chaos theory, horticulture, philosophy, theology, and literature among many, many others.In this collection of interviews between Gussow and Stoppard, the reader is let into Stoppard's mind, and the playwright relates how he chooses subjects, his approach to writing, what art means to him, some of his philosophies on life, among much else. Stoppard is witty and pithy, and Gussow is a wonderful interviewer.This book is a must for any Stoppard lovers, as it gives one complete access to his thoughts, and is highly recommended for anyone interested in the theatre or playwrighting.

I like Tom Stoppard's work a lot, so I was curious to find out a little more about the man. I stumbled across this book, and picked it up on a lark. I recommend it to anyone curious about how the great playwright views his work.I was particularly interested in hearing Stoppard's views on the role culture (and more specifically theatre) plays in shaping the world around us. Stoppard's background in and views about journalism lends an interesting perspective to some of the plays he's written (in particular I'm thinking of Night and Day).I was surprised to find out how witty Stoppard is in his day to day life. This is most apparent when other people stop in to chat during the interviews. The banter between Stoppard and his acquaintances is very funny. I am also surprised at Stoppard's ego. He's been highly succesful, and is very good at what he does... unfortunately he is highly aware of this, and makes no bones about it (although he pays heavy tribute to Pinter and Beckett among others).All in all a good read. His conversations with Gussow (and this is a testament to Gussow's ability as an interviewer) provide substantial insight into his motivation and attitudes. Rereading Stoppard after reading this book put much of his work in a new light for me. It makes me want to read conversations with Pinter.