Destroy, She Said: Elfriede Jelinek

Huston discusses the life and works of writer Elfriede Jelinek. Among other things, to get some idea of what kind of monster Jelinek was, it suffices to read her seventh novel The Pianist, which gained world-wide fame a quarter of a century after its publication thanks to the fact that Michael Heineke turned it into a major motion picture starring Isabelle Huppert. She has quite a bit in common with the novel's heroine, whose name is Erika. Like Erika, in her early childhood she displayed an exceptional gift for music, and her mother put her on a strict regime of piano and composition lessons.