The extraordinarily revealing interviews with Francis Bacon conducted over a period of 25 years by the distinguished art critic David Sylvester amount to a unique statement by Bacon on his art & on art in general In the book a classic of its kind Bacon considers the problems of realism & sheds new light on aspects of his life With a rare & brilliant use of language Bacon talks about his aims as a painter & ways in which he works responding always with vivacity & candour to Sylvester&s searching questions Bacon&s obsessive effort to record & re-create the human form his practice of making variation on old masters& painting & on photographs his dependence on chance & his views about the way in which his work has been interpreted are only some of the many subjects discussed & investigated in depth during these historic encounters