Reading an interview transcript feels slightly voyeuristic. Perhaps it’s because the interview was meant to be listened to, rather than read, and the words come across as almost too candid without the accompanying body language and interactive dynamics. Or perhaps it’s because I now get to imagine that body language and dynamic in my own head, and scrutinise the words with more time, and in a quieter, more introspective place than they would have received when broadcast.

I didn’t watch the interviews at issue when they were aired, but reading them gives me such a sense of both the interviewer — Australian comedian Andrew Denton — and interviewee, that it was better than watching. The transcripts chosen for this book were hand-picked by Denton from his popular ABC show Enough Rope. The title is tongue-in-cheek, since there aren’t 1001 interviews in this book – there are actually 33.

In his introduction to the book, Michael Parkinson, who is also interviewed, calls Denton a well-researched, attentive listener. He is indeed, and it’s the extensive research that makes these interviews work well, but it is also the fact that Denton pulls no punches. He isn’t afraid to go for the jugular, ask the hard, searching questions, or pick a sore place with his guests. He doesn’t deliberately try to be provocative, but he also allows his natural feelings and curiosity through, and brings his well developed sense of culture, current affairs and entertainment into the show.

Some of the more exciting guests include Cate Blanchett, Bono, Mark Latham, Jane Goodal, Richard E. Grant, Steve Irwin, Rolf Harris, and Tim Winton, to name a few. There are also a few not-so-famous, but equally interesting people, such as three homeless folk, members of the living library, and three cab drivers. The homeless interview was one of the most interesting in the book, as much for the surprise articulate openness of the interviewees as for the glimpse at a side of life most of us don’t see. There are plenty of epiphanies. Author Lee Stringer is particularly lucid talking about addiction:

I think that people who end up getting addicted are acutely aware of being spiritually empty, and it matters to them. There are people on this earth who think that just keeping busy all the way to the grave is enough. Then there are people for whom that’s never enough, but they don’t know what’s missing. And even religion doesn’t seem to find its way to talking to us in a way that connects, so we reach out and grab a substance – for some people it’s sex, for some people it’s gambling, for some people it’s money. (244)

I’m probably biased towards the authors, or maybe it’s just that they’re naturally good with words, but Tim Winton is also a fascinating interviewee – open, honest, and inspiring as he talks about the difficulties he had with his last novel Dirt Music: