Michael Cunningham: What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? — FLAPSS

The question

What does happiness look like for you when life is going well?

Originally asked

Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire

Verbatim recurring item in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

MC

Michael Cunningham

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

The very idea of perfect happiness. Who wouldn’t be happy about the proposition that happiness can be perfect?

The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 22 November 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

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A plate of fettuccine ragù with my kids.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 24 February 2021 source ↗

Patti Smith Musician, poet and photographer

Clarity when I am writing.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 24 July 2024 source ↗

Being in process on a creative project I love.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 17 January 2025 source ↗

Jane Birkin Singer, songwriter, actor

Christmas with my girls, my brother, my sister, and all the children.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 September 2013 source ↗

More from Michael Cunningham

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Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

The fact that, until recently, “the end of the world” would have seemed pretentious and evasive, and now seems like the only possible answer.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2023 source ↗

Question Which quality in your friends matters most to you? Relationships

Forbearance with my chronic tardiness.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 22 November 2023 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

I’m chronically late. It’s magical thinking: I actually believe I can take a shower and get dressed in three minutes, that the train will be pulling into the station the moment I arrive….

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2023 source ↗

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