The Proust Questionnaire — Book Edition

Tina Roth Eisenberg Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

By Tina Roth Eisenberg November 20, 2013

Tina Roth Eisenberg: swissmiss, CreativeMornings

This November marks 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 Tina Roth Eisenberg sent in response to the Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition:

1. Of these, your reading preference: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama:
Nonfiction all the way.

2. Your favorite childhood book (or favorite childhood author):
Oddly enough, I don't have any vivid memories of childhood books. But, being a mom of two little ones, I sure do have an opinion on what my favorite childhood books are, now that I am the one buying them for my kids: The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers; I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen; and Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri.

3. Your favorite book character:
The Bad Mood Monster in Big Rabbit’s Bad Mood by Ramona Badescu.

4. Your favorite book title (because you like the sound of it):
Will Happiness Find Me? by Peter Fischli and David Weiss.

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:
My 200-page thesis on “Finding Beauty in The Mundane.”

8. A book you should have read but haven’t:
Too many to list.

9. The best “book as object” you own (how it looks over what it says):
ABC3D by Marion Bataille.

10. Your reading speed: very slow, slow, moderate, fast, very fast:
Moderate.

11. While you read, are you a note-taker? If yes, where do you record your notes:
I highlight obsessively; hence I own e-books as well paper versions of books. I love the fact that I can look up my Kindle Highlights online.

15. If you are what you read, the book that best says who you are:
Taking Things Seriously: 75 Objects with Unexpected Significance by Joshua Glenn.

17. The last book you bought:
Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big by Bo Burlingham.

18. Your favorite place to purchase books:
Amazon (feeling bad admitting this).

19. The book you are currently reading:
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard.

22. Your favorite format for books: paper or pixels:
No preference. Both have their advantages. It depends on where I am reading. On the go, pixels; at home, paper. But when I do read at home, from a real paper book. I will always have my pixel version at the ready in case I want to highlight a paragraph.

23. If you could have written any book:
My own. I have an outline in my head and publishers that have approached me. So, it’s just a matter of dedicating time and making it happen. Exciting!

View all Questionnaires.

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

Debbie Millman Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

Michael Bierut Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

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