The Proust Questionnaire — Book Edition

Seymour Chwast Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

By Seymour Chwast December 2, 2013

Seymour Chwast, Graphic Designer: The Pushpin Group (New York)

This November marked the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first volume of Marcel Proust’s opus, In Search of Lost Time (A la recherche du temps perdu), originally known in English as Remembrance of Things Past. To honor the occasion, we developed the Designers & Books version of the eponymous Proust Questionnaire, which we’ve sent out to various contributors and friends. Rather than including the questions from the original that asked about a wide array of “thoughts and feelings,” our adaptation focuses solely on the respondent’s relationship to books.

View the complete questions asked in The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

Here are the answers Seymour Chwast sent in response to the Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition:

3. Your favorite book character:
John Yossarian.

4. Your favorite book title (because you like the sound of it):
God is Not Great.

7. If for some reason it turned out that you could save one and only one book from among those you own, which would it be:
Charles Anderson’s CSA Archive.

9. The best “book as object” you own (how it looks over what it says):
Die Idee by Frans Masereel.

10. Your reading speed: very slow, slow, moderate, fast, very fast;
Very slow.

13. The most expensive book you’ve ever bought (and, if you can remember, the price):
The Push Pin Style for over $100.

14. If you could be any author:
Richard Dawkins.

16. Your favorite writer of the gender opposite yours:
Jane Austen.

17. The last book you bought:
The History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science.

22. Your favorite format for books: paper or pixels:
Paper.

23. If you could have written any book:
Goodnight Moon.

25. If you have the chance to plan it, the last book you’ll read:
Goodnight Moon.

View all Questionnaires.

Also see “Celebrating a Proust Anniversary with The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition.”

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