QUOTES by Colson Whitehead
Find most favourite and famour Authors from A.A Milne to Zoe Kravitz.
'John Henry Days' was already half in the can before my first book came out, so I'd already started something that was big and sprawling - I just had to finish it.
Quote by -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.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
As always, a lot of bad books will be published. Some good books will be published, and you have to seek them out.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I never actually went anywhere when I was a journalist. I was a critic, and I just sort of got stuff in the mail and chatted about it.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
In 'John Henry Days,' I was taking my idea of junketeering and sort of blowing it up to absurd extremes.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
Access to information, to music or any kind of culture, is getting faster and faster and more streamlined. At each juncture, people are thrown into tumult and have to adapt or die.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I wanted to be one of these multidisciplinary critics who is doing music one day, TV the next, and books the next.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
The terror of figuring out a new genre, of telling a new story, is what makes the job exciting, keeps me from getting bored, and I assume it keeps whoever follows my work from getting bored as well.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I love getting out of the Q train at Union Square. It's such a mix of people, like a party. There's always an errand you can do along there, whether it's picking up contacts or buying poker chips.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
Part of being in New York is being able to brag about what used to be there.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
In America, when you hear about the Underground Railroad, it's so evocative. You think it's a literal subway for a few minutes before your teacher goes on and describes where it actually was.
Quote by -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.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
If the world's nations can set aside their petty bickering over religion, politics, and territory, certainly I can 'get that Olympic Spirit' and rise above my prejudices.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I like to know how I'm supposed to feel about things. Just a little clue or hint.
Quote by -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.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I grew up reading the 'Village Voice' and wanting to be one of these multidisciplinary music writers, film writers, book writers. And I lucked out getting a job at the 'Voice' right after college.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I get invited to do panels with other Brooklyn writers to discuss what it's like to be a writer in Brooklyn. I expect it's like writing in Manhattan, but there aren't as many tourists walking very slowly in front of you when you step out for coffee. It's like writing in Paris, but there are fewer people speaking French.
Quote by -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.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
Early on my career, I figured out that I just have to write the book I have to write at that moment. Whatever else is going on in the culture is just not that important. If you could get the culture to write your book, that would be great. But the culture can't write your book.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
Growing up devouring horror comics and novels, and being inspired to become a writer because of horror novels, movies, and comic books, I always knew I was going to write a horror novel.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I'm someone who just likes being in my cave and thinking up weird stuff.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
My mom's mother was from Virginia, but I don't feel much of a tie. I'm very much anti-South for many, many reasons. Whenever I go down there, people are always looking at me funny, you know.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
Stephen King in general, as well as films of the apocalypse from the '70s, had a big influence on 'Zone One.'
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
Monsters are a storytelling tool, like domestic realism and close third.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I am not sure the issue of race in America will ever be completely solved.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
A lot of my writer friends live near me, and that makes people think we just hang around with one another in cafes, trading work and discussing 'Harper's' and what not. But I rarely see them. We're home working.
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For me, choosing between fiction and nonfiction is really only about picking the right tool for the job.
Quote by -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.
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The contemporary casino is more than a gambling destination: it is a multifarious pleasure enclosure intended to satisfy every member of the family unit.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
You can raze the old buildings and erect magnificent corporate towers, hose down Port Authority, but you can't change people.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
I take inspiration from books, movies, television, music - it all goes in the hopper. Depending on the project, I'm drawing from this or that piece of art that has stayed with me. Toni Morrison, George Romero, Sonic Youth - they are all in there.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead
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.
Quote by -Colson Whitehead