A journalist working over a wide range, if always at a high level, Appleyard employs a plain style, with no hoopla. The advantage of such unadorned transparency is that it doesn't interpose the writer's own personality between his notebook and the subject, and that kind of reticence really counts when you're interviewing a star — who is the main reason, never forget, that the reader is reading the piece. In view of that circumstance, the first essential is to make the star the centre of attention. Notice how Appleyard keeps himself out of it even when dealing with the difficult subject of the diva's physical attractiveness. His running gag about leaning forward draws attention to her, not to him.