PEOPLE WHO MEET PEOPLE

People Who Meet People is an amazing anthology of uncommon interviews of the finest spread and variety. Each of these interviews is a specimen of meaningful dialogue that makes for compulsive reading.

Here the interviewer expertly induces his subjects, both national and international, to launch into freewheeling conversation with unusual depth and perception. His empathetic and probing questions have sparked these occupants of the artistic firmament to intimately and animatedly talking about that part of their lives which usually remains under the lid.

All of these tête-à-têtes carry befitting codas, most of which are interesting observations on the interviews made by discerning readers. None of the pieces was sent by the interviewer to his subjects for vetting. He took it entirely upon himself to execute this thought-provoking undertaking (forty-nine personalities from the world of writing, music, cinema, dance and painting are showcased here)—a marvellous achievement in the canon of interview as an art form.

Swapan Banerjee gives equal prominence in this volume to some obscure yet highly deserving people who have never before been brought to the limelight. Spontaneous, no-holdsbarred conversations with the greats and the to-be-greats make this book an armchair favourite.