Parisreview.com

ParisReview.com is an exceptional site. Everyone (in the literary circles and their admirers) knows the prestige the actual print copies of the Paris Review carry, but how many can attest to the glory of the website? How many have actually visited? Maybe in this age of the internet, it would be foolish to assume that many do not use internet websites. It would be even sillier to assume many read hard copies. Maybe this is why I got this distinct impression that many of the journals in print form have steadily declined. This was further confirmed by the charming librarian who shared my sentiments about the virtues of paper. But in due time I found my consolation.

After browsing the website, I may have changed my mind a little bit about literature online. I click and voila! A beautiful webpage is staring back at me. The first thing that catches my mind is located on the right-hand side on the bottom. The box is titled "The DNA of Literature" and features an interview with William S. Burroughs. The excerpt from the interview is what really caught my eye. I clicked on the link and was taken to a page where I can download the PDF file for the entire interview. I love PDF because I can download it and save it to my computer, which I did. I ended my visit abruptly for some reason. When I came back another time, I now found an interview with W.H. Auden and swiftly downloaded that file as well. This time I followed it up with a visit to the index where I found a whole library of poets and writers that have shaped our culture in the last fifty years. I could not believe that this website featured full-length transcripts some dating back in the 1950s. This was a dream come true because these interviews contain serious insights into not only poetry and literature but life itself. More importantly, these conversations are occasionally a great source of humor.