Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael

In September of 2001 movie lovers lost one of their greatest friends - afriend who never tired of championing the best that the movies could offer and always delivered criticism with her famously acerbic wit. Kael's insight, spirit, and straight-shooting won her singular respect in both movie and literary circles, as well as a passionate following for her New Yorker columns and her inimitably titled books such as I Lost it at the Movies and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Shortly before her death, Kael sat down with Francis Davis for a series of conversations about her life and work - and, of course, the movies. Among the many things she talks about are her childhood, her early days as a critic, her impressive career, the directors she knew (for better or worse), her take on recent cinema, and her renewed interest in television. It's funny, it's controversial, it's right - on-the-mark - and time and again you realize that no one would have dared to say that in just that way, except Pauline Kael.

Francis Davis is a contributing editor of the Atlantic Monthly and writes regularly for the New York Times and the New Yorker. He is the author of the acclaimed books Outcats and History of the Blues and a biography of John Coltrane (Knopf). He lives in Philadelphia.