New Haven Independent

Posted by: YRG | April 23, 2008 8:30 PM

I know she didn't say it, but it sounded like "it's an Obama Nation." I loved More, Now, Again and look forward to another book by her.

Posted by: kevy | May 4, 2008 8:06 PM

define evil as opposed to saintliness and every thing else in-between ... furthermore , a feminist subversive ? ah , ok then , she should fit in quite well with the rest of the Omadhauns !

Posted by: velvetdewdrop | July 26, 2008 8:14 PM

Love the interview.. Shows E.W. at her sweet side. "Sick of writing about yourself..." I, of course, wondered why she didn't write fiction? Or the kind of nonfiction that Capote wrote with "In Cold Blood," writing that doesn't use yourself in the book. There were always these taunting, relentless announcements about watching CNN for endless hours and being compulsively swayed to call in and talk to the person expressing their views (for example).. and I sensed that with politics E.W. had something very pure and, yes, even altruistic to contribute. (Pure is tattoed on her arm, but that's not my point.) Behind the scenes- or times- of all of her books, there is a strong, passionate, even angry way Elizabetn reveals the myopic ways the world makes mistakes in politics, or the way politicians were failing to understand all the splendid contradictions in front of them. Many people were angry at her writing, saying that it was incoherent, that she was a hack, that she couldn't write without ten run ons... I believe that she alone had the ability to not only conceptualize but also describe something fundamental yet complex about other people's perspectives, the limitations of those perspectives, and the mistakes they make/made in their assumptions.
As for her not having the literal-mindedness five years ago... I do think she had that. "Do you think the president has even read the constitution?"
Do you know how funny that question is?!!! And how tragic that it is asked?
"Is [Hilary's] evil genius good for feminism..." (Okay, that isn't how the interviewer phrased the question, but it's what he subversively was getting at.) Subversive, one of E.W.'s most commonly used words. Ironically, E.W. thought there was a "wrong form" of feminism, which intrigues me. What forms of feminism ARE wrong?
Elizabeth has the ability to make others see things they weren't able to see until she said them. Like a magician unvealing the truth using words, I am in awe of how she forces all of her focus on taking down the charades going on, or the beliefs people take for granted. And though she is incredibly opinionated, she shows an incredible open-mindedness as well.
"Chelsea has fantastic highlights." Nice diversion, Lizzy... Wasn't this the point in the interview where you should have brought up the CIA or the NASA? Come on.. I expected more of you here!
MORE NOW AGAIN. How did you stay "stopped?" I would love to hear you explain how you did it your own way, because too many people think the 12 step way is the only way, even if you don't have a "quarrel" with them. Do you believe drugs should be legalized, or could be legalized? They distribute phychiatric drugs that have toxic affects like candy, and yet, they are more afraid of addiction, than, say, a potential stroke.. or tardive dyskinesia.
I'm surprised you like Obama.. I've heard he's made some strokes to make it harder for people to run union strikes...and although he says he wants to get the people out of Afganistan, he says it will take a while. A lot of people can't trust him now, so how can we trust him later? I want to know more about WHY Lizzie likes him. I know this interview was fast and a little fluffy, but I would like to know a lot more about why she believes what she believes.. and I would enjoy a book that simply was full of opinions and justifications. I'm not the type of person that normally reads this sort of literature- I devour hard core fiction, nonfiction, etc, but I stay away from politics and history. But in E.W.'s hands, she makes it interesting... and her contradictory views IRONICALLY unite so many people. It is one of the funniest and most paradoxical parts of all.
America does look VERY bad right now...and I hope we start focusing less on oil and more on the environment, and on activism. This silence and passivism/indifference that has struck is deafening in its insistence on a lack of destiny. Not that people are capable of much insistence these days except by their resistance. It's the hopelessness that is so cancerous and contagious, and I hope it stops short of a massive mistake that love is the same as a mercy killing.

Thank you Elizabeth, for your words. However, I really wish I could watch a UTUBE video of one of your interviews. The one you did with Candice Bergen is long gone.