Sheila Heti

Vendela Vida

Ross Simonini

Presents a collection of conversations between writers of fiction and nonfiction, occurring between 2007 and 2012.

The Believer Magazine Presents Twenty-two Conversations Between Writers

Always Apprentices

Judy Blume and Lena Dunham in Conversation

"Believer Books collects thirty-five interviews with some of today's most influential musicians and includes such conversational treasures as Bjèork on e.e. cummings, Lucinda Williams on writing about sex, Trey Anastasio on improvisation games, M.I.A. onthe power of the internet, and Jack White on upholstering a couch. The interviews are conducted in the Believer magazine's intimate, casual, long-form style, and while they focus on the music--creating it, playing it, touring it, living with it--they never hesitate to explore the subjects' other passions. This collection is perfect for fans, lovers of the interview format, cultural aficionados, and aspiring polymaths"--Page [4] of cover.

The Best of the Believer Music Interviews

Confidence, Or the Appearance of Confidence

This debut novel--told in interviews--spans 20 years in the rise and fall of the charismatic leader of a seductive self-help movement. In the 1990s, a talk show host leads the "personality movement," an integrative approach to radical self-transformation. Mayah, the movement's architect and celebrity advocate, adopts a curious, wild child named Masha Isle. A guinea-pig for the movement, and the key to its future, Isle is the subject of the eight interviews that comprise this book. As the interviewer's objectivity disintegrates--even as the movement's legitimacy becomes increasingly suspect--he becomes obsessed with Masha. And all of that is thrown into question when tragedy strikes. The stunning debut of a new literary talent, and a fascinating take on the cult of personality: about celebrities need to destroy and recreate themselves to stay relevant, public personalities coming to belong to everyone, and about our need to see everyone as a kind of celebrity.

Ross Simonini

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