Ann Patchett
American author
A writer. Always.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A stuntman. Evel Knievel was an icon.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 May 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 195 →First, I wanted to be a historian, then a drummer, and after that I just wanted to be employed. And I still do.
Mathew Horne
English actor
I wanted to be a prosthetic makeup artist after watching A Nightmare On Elm Street.
I had dreams of becoming the first scouse pope. Unfortunately, the girls got to me first.
More from Aidan Gillen
View profile →Last year, driving in California, I found myself on the wrong side of the road. I was 30 seconds away from hitting two cars coming the other way.
I won a local art competition aged 10 – the first time I’d won anything.
Foxes making love: it’s a very unsettling sound.
The floral waistcoat and shocking-pink shirt combo I wore on my 21st.
Pyramid Song, by Radiohead, live.
Teachers at my school, for being such a smartarse.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Hayley Squires, Joanne Froggatt, Sofia Coppola, Toyah Willcox, Dawn O'Porter, Billy Porter
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All identity & self questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject