Under the townhouse where the legendary writer Gay Talese and his wife, Nan, have lived for over half a century is what Talese calls his “subterranean think tank.” Every day, Talese leaves his home, locks his door, walks down an elegantly curved outdoor staircase through a separate entrance, and enters this lush underground office.
There are no windows, and no phones. It is, he says, “one place where I think a writer can work without any distractions.” One wall is lined with boxes covered in the elaborate collages he makes as part of his research and writing process. Another nook in the bunker houses his many file cabinets; since 1945, Talese has kept a file for every year of his life. He has records of each day—where he was, what he saw, who he spoke to. He recently published a piece in the magazine on Joe Girardi, the Yankee’s manager.
In this video, Talese gives a tour of his bunker, explains his writing process, and reflects on why he became a “man of record.”
Video by Kristina Budelis, Myles Kane, and Shay Maunz.