The Proust Questionnaire — Book Edition

Tom Geismar Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

By Tom Geismar December 5, 2013

Tom Geismar, Graphic Designer: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv (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 Tom Geismar sent in response to the Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition:

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

2. Your favorite childhood book (or favorite childhood author):
Barbar.

3. Your favorite book character:
Barbar.

4. A book you should have read but haven’t:
War and Peace.

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

6. While you read, are you a note-taker? If yes, where do you record your notes:
No.

7. Your favorite writer of the gender opposite yours:
Jhumpa Lahiri.

8. The last book you bought:
The Orientalist by Tom Reiss.

9. The book you are currently reading:
The Orientalist.

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

View all Questionnaires.

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

Ivan Chermayeff Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

Michael Bierut Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

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