If I have three ideas and I'm working on one more than the others, that sort of tells me that I should work on that one. Colson Whitehead More Quotes by Colson Whitehead More Quotes From Colson Whitehead When it comes to how the slaves treat each other: If you've been brutalized all your life - if you have seen your children sold or your mother beaten and raped and you have been tortured yourself - you are not going to be up for your best behaviour. Even in the 21st century, 100 people in the midst of terrible suffering are not going to be their best people. Colson Whitehead mother children people The thing I love about New York is getting lost but not worrying, just wandering and wandering, knowing that there's always a subway only ten blocks away in any direction. There's always a new neighborhood to discover, a new place to lose your bearings in, and yet however alien it seems you can escape. You can always get a cab. All of life's problems can be solved by hailing a cab. Colson Whitehead block aliens worry I'm someone who just likes being in my cave and thinking up weird stuff. Colson Whitehead weird someone being thinking 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 you failure love world The contemporary casino is more than a gambling destination: it is a multifarious pleasure enclosure intended to satisfy every member of the family unit. Colson Whitehead gambling pleasure destination family Part of being in New York is being able to brag about what used to be there. Colson Whitehead about new being new-york People don't like it when you compare the miracle of childbirth to writing a book, but I think there is some overlap in the two because they are both pure agony. Colson Whitehead think you book people I have a good poker face because I am half-dead inside. Colson Whitehead inside face i-am good In the apocalypse, I think those average, mediocre folks are the ones who are going to live. Colson Whitehead i-think going live think Write what you know. Colson Whitehead write know you You can raze the old buildings and erect magnificent corporate towers, hose down Port Authority, but you can't change people. Colson Whitehead down you change people 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 best me nature sports 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. Colson Whitehead new job me work 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 weird someone me world For me, choosing between fiction and nonfiction is really only about picking the right tool for the job. Colson Whitehead right only job me Zombies are a great rhetorical prop to talk about people and paranoia, and they are a good vehicle for my misanthropy. Colson Whitehead talk great good people If you're writing a detective novel or horror or sci-fi, you want to expand or reinvigorate the genre in your own little way. Colson Whitehead your you writing way I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me. Colson Whitehead follow me rich trying I was inspired to become a writer by horror movies and science fiction. Colson Whitehead movies become horror science 'Sag Harbor' was a very different book for me. It changed the way I thought about books that I wanted to do. Colson Whitehead thought me book way
