One of the most idiosyncratic and charismatic musicians of the twentieth century, pianist Glenn Gould (1932-82) slouched at the piano from a sawed-down wooden stool, interpreting Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart at hastened tempos with pristine clarity. A strange genius and true eccentric, Gould was renowned not only for his musical gifts but also for his erratic behavior: he often hummed aloud during concerts and appeared in unpressed tails, fingerless gloves, and fur coats. In 1964, at the height of his controversial career, he abandoned the stage completely to focus instead on recording and writing. Jonathan Cott, a prolific author and poet praised by Larry McMurtry as "the ideal interviewer," was one of the very few people to whom Gould ever granted an interview. Cott spoke with Gould in 1974 for Rolling Stone and published the transcripts in two long articles; after Gould's death, Cott gathered these interviews in Conversations with Glenn Gould, adding an introduction, a selection of photographs, a list of Gould's recorded repertoire, a filmography, and a listing of Gould's programs on radio and TV. A brilliant one-on-one in which Gould discusses his dislike of Mozart's piano sonatas, his partiality for composers such as Orlando Gibbons and Richard Strauss, and his admiration for the popular singer Petula Clark (and his dislike of the Beatles), among other topics, "Conversations with Glenn Gould" is considered by many, including the subject, to be the best interview Gould ever gave and one of his most remarkable performances.

喬納森•科特（Jonathan Cott）是一名作傢和詩人，《華盛頓郵報》曾將他譽為“最理想的采訪人”。他是屈指可數的幾個有幸采訪過古爾德的人之一。1974年，科特代錶《滾石》雜誌對古爾德進行瞭一次訪談，而在古爾德逝世之後，他將這一次的訪談資料加以整理，並配上瞭一篇引言、一組圖片、一張古爾德的錄音麯目清單、作品年錶及其參加過的廣播和電視節目清單，結成瞭這本《格倫•古爾德對話錄》。從書中可以看到，古爾德對諸多話題直言不諱，包括自己對奧蘭多•吉本斯（Orlando Gibbons）、理查德•斯特勞斯（Richard Strauss）和佩杜拉•剋拉剋（Petula Clark）的鍾愛，也包括對莫紮特的鋼琴奏鳴麯和披頭士樂隊的反感，言談之間充滿智慧、妙語連珠。而《格倫•古爾德對話錄》也被包括古爾德本人在內的許多人視為是他最齣色的一次訪談，亦堪稱是他一生中最令人難忘的演齣之一。