How does one live to be (very) old? Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), the Franco-American sculptor, always claimed that the recipe was to create art and to confront one's own past, even using drastic means if necessary. She herself, who lived to be 98 years old, exemplified this. In a conversation with Donald Kuspit, the American art critic, Bourgeois vividly and precisely describes how she achieved this, starting from her biography. She recounts her ambivalent youth in France, the profound loneliness she felt, her struggle for recognition in the early years in the USA, and how success eventually came over time. Her conversation partner, who had known the artist for years, was the right guide for this dialogue with her, thanks to his psychoanalytic training and great sensitivity. We present this central conversation for understanding the artist, complete with numerous illustrations, for the first time in full German text in book form.