Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People

Millman (Look Both Ways) brings her Design Matters podcast, “about how the most creative people in the world create their lives,” to the page with this excellent interview anthology. Ably illustrating writer Maria Popova’s comment in the afterword that “a great interview touches the nucleus of being and potential, untouched by... time and change,” these conversations parse the meaning of creativity and the inspiration that drives it through a kaleidoscope of personal perspectives. When discussing his storytelling style, This American Life host Ira Glass (who admits he was once “a very awkward interviewer”) cites the structure of Fiddler on the Roof as a major influence: “They would pull you in with something very light and then you get invested”; while illustrator Maira Kalman pins her obsession with dogs to the convenient fact that they can’t speak, arguing “everybody talks too much.” Asked to elaborate the power of memory in memoir, critic and poet Saeed Jones asks back, “If you can’t be confident about your memory, do you even know who you are?” Sharpened by Millman’s penetrating commentary, the candid musings teem with insight and empathy. This sparkling collection is one to be savored slowly. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary. (Oct.)