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I think a joke is a form of truth-telling. A good joke that's absurd contains elements of our daily darkness and also a possibility to escape that darkness. So, for me, humor is an attempt to capture everyday tragedy and everyday hopeful moments that we experience all of the time.
Colson Whitehead -
If you go to a big publishing house, editorial aside, it's completely white.
Colson Whitehead
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Usually, when I write a novel, it takes me about 100 pages to figure out the voice of the narrator.
Colson Whitehead -
I admire Vegas's purity, its entirely wholesome artificiality.
Colson Whitehead -
I have a good poker face because I am half-dead inside.
Colson Whitehead -
I don't generally follow sports. At an early age, I discovered that nature had apportioned me only a small reserve of enthusiasm. Best to ration.
Colson Whitehead -
In the apocalypse, I think those average, mediocre folks are the ones who are going to live.
Colson Whitehead -
I live in Brooklyn. I moved here 14 years ago for the cheap rent. It was a little embarrassing because I was raised in Manhattan, and so I was a bit of a snob about the other boroughs.
Colson Whitehead
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'Sag Harbor' was a very different book for me. It changed the way I thought about books that I wanted to do.
Colson Whitehead -
I didn't know I was a zombie pedant until I started considering what from the zombie canon to keep in 'Zone One' and what to ignore.
Colson Whitehead -
Other people have hang-ups about what's literary or genre or whatever, and that's sort of not my problem. You're supposed to write what you have to write, and you're supposed to keep moving.
Colson Whitehead -
When I'm working on a book, I try to do eight pages a week. That seems like a good amount. Less than that, I'm not getting a nice momentum, and more than that, I'm probably putting out too much crap.
Colson Whitehead -
Some people don't like my fiction, because they prefer the nonfiction. But moving around keeps the work fresh for me and, hopefully, for my one or two readers who follow me from book to book!
Colson Whitehead -
Once I got to college, it seemed that the Hamptons were a little bit too posh for me and didn't represent the kind of values I was embracing in my late teens. So, I didn't go out there, except to visit my parents, for a long time. And then, after 9/11, I discovered it was a nice, mellow place to hang out.
Colson Whitehead
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I was allowed to write about race using an elevator metaphor because of Toni Morrison and David Bradley and Ralph Ellison. Hopefully, me being weird allows someone who's 16 and wanting to write inspires them to have their own weird take on the world, and they can see the different kinds of African American voices being published.
Colson Whitehead -
I wanted to be one of these multidisciplinary critics who is doing music one day, TV the next, and books the next.
Colson Whitehead -
I've always had a love of cards, ever since I was a little kid. I think poker, as a system, describes the chaos of the world. Our sudden reversals, our freak streaks of fortune. The belief that the next hand can save you, and the inevitable failure of the next hand to save you. I think that describes my world view pretty well.
Colson Whitehead -
Write what you know.
Colson Whitehead -
The movie 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' was a sacred text in my household.
Colson Whitehead -
It's always hard to write and get your words out there, to find an editor, a publisher - readers! - who are going to appreciate them.
Colson Whitehead