Interview with the Vampire [Hardcover]

Anne Rice (Author), RD Scudellari (Designer)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Knopf; 11th print edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000B43NXQ
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,198,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in English and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.

She is the author of over 30 books, most recently the Toby O'Dare novels Of Love and Evil, and Angel Time; the memoir, Called Out of Darkness;and her two novels about Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,

Anne publicly broke with organized religion in July of 2010 on moral grounds, affirming her faith in God, but refusing any longer to be called "Christian." The story attracted surprising media attention, with Rice's remarks being quoted in stories all over the world.

Anne is very active on her FaceBook Fan Page and has over 550,000 followers. She answers questions every day on the page, and also posts on a variety of topics, including literature, film, music, politics, religion, and her own writings. She welcomes discussion there on numerous topics.

Her latest novel, The Wolf Gift, a werewolf story set in Northern California in the present time, will be published on February 14th, 2012. With this book, Anne returns to the classic monsters and themes of supernatural literature, similar to those she explored in her Vampire Chronicles, and tales of the Mayfair Witches.

Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time. She continued her saga of the Vampire Lestat in a series of books, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles, which have had both great mainstream and cult followings.

Interview with the Vampire was made into a motion picture in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Anne's novel, Feast of All Saints about the free people of color of ante-bellum New Orleans became a Showtime mini series in 2001.

Anne Rice is also the author of other novels, including The Witching Hour, Servant of the Bones, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Violin, and Cry to Heaven. She lives in Palm Desert, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "If you believe God made Satan, you must realize that all Satan's power comes from God. Satan is simply God's child.", February 1, 2009

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Interview with the Vampire (Hardcover)

When Louis, a New Orleans vampire, is interviewed by a young journalist, he seizes the opportunity to reveal the essence of his life, and that of vampires in general. Turned into a vampire by Lestat, whom he loathes, Louis is different from the typical vampire. Filled with scruples and feelings for those who could be his victims, he prefers to feed on the blood of animals, rather than on humans. When he feeds on the blood of a five-year-old orphan, Claudia, one night, he intentionally stops feeding before she dies. Lestat, however, finishes the job, then revives her with his own blood, turning her into a five-year-old vampire, a creature who gets older but who does not change physically. In time, Claudia, furious at her fate, decides to kills another vampire, which is the only real crime in the vampire "ethic."

As Louis unveils his deathless life, the reader is exposed to the vampire culture in New Orleans, to Louis's connections at the Theatre des Vampires in Paris (where vampires put on public performances in which humans are sacrificed), to his trip to Egypt with Armand of the Theatre des Vampires, and to his return to New Orleans and attempt to set his life right. Always, Louis stops short of behaving as a completely amoral vampire when it comes to human sacrifice. Though he sometimes must drink the blood of humans, he continues to try to learn about and change the vampire culture, and even to sacrifice vampire lives in an effort remake vampire society.

Creating a vampire who is at odds with his culture, author Anne Rice creates empathy for Louis, while showing "five-year-old" Claudia to be ruthless. The internecine rivalries and resentments within vampire culture parallel those in the real world of humans, though the powers of the vampire make their "wars" far more violent. Louis, lonely, guilt-ridden, and full of despair, tries to convey to the interviewer the horrors of his "existence," such as it is, along with its lack of "romance" and excitement, but he fails completely, as he also does with the reader, who cannot help but become caught up in the excitement of Louis's adventures. An excellent introduction to Rice's vampire cycle (and great escape reading) for those who have not yet become familiar with these stories. n Mary Whipple

The Vampire Lestat (Rice, Anne, Chronicles of the Vampires, 2nd Bk.)
The Queen of the Damned (Vampire Chronicles)
The Tale of the Body Thief (Rice, Anne, Vampire Chronicles, Bk. 4.)
Memnoch the Devil (Vampire Chronicles, No 5)
The Vampire Armand (Vampire Chronicles/Anne Rice)
Blood Canticle (Vampire Chronicles)