Excerpt from Real Conversations: With Twelve Portraits An Imaginary Conversation with the Courteous Reader. C. R. Do you flatter yourself, my good sir, that you can disguise that vulgarest of newspaper devices, the Interview, by simply re-christening it? What, pray, is the difference between an Interview and a Conversation? W. A. I am not without hope that, if you will glance at one or two of the Conversations recorded in these pages, you may discern a certain difference between them and the ordinary Interview of journalism - for which, however, I by no means share your contempt. C. R. I perceive, indeed, in merely turning the pages, that the part assigned to "W. A." is not in considerable. In some places it would even seem that his interlocutor finds it difficult to get a word in edge wise. It is, I admit, a somewhat unconventional interviewer who does most of the talking himself. W. A. With admirable acumen, you have gone straight to the point of distinction, as I understand it, between the Interview and the Conversation. The Interviewer seeks merely to draw his subject out - to lure him on, by an occasional leading question - C. R. - into indiscretion, if possible. W. A. Furthermore, the interviewer does not, as a rule, profess to take any personal view of the subject in hand. No discussion, no colloquial give-and-take, is ever attempted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.