The city knows you better than any living person because it has seen you when you are alone, — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
New York City in life was much like New York City in death. It was still hard to get a cab, for… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“Their lives had been an interminable loop of repeated gestures; now their existences were winnowed to this discrete and eternal moment.” — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“Life! What Inscrutable Card Shall Ye Throw Next Upon the Soft Felt of Our Days?” — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“In his mind, the business of existence was about minimizing consequences. The plague had raised the stakes, but he had been in… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“Know your value and you know your place in the order. To escape the boundary of the plantation was to escape the… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
When it comes to how the slaves treat each other: If you've been brutalized all your life - if you have seen… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“Two people, two hands, and two songs, in this case "Big Shot" and "Bette Davis Eyes." The lyrics of the two songs… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“They jostled one another, competed for space below as they did above, in a minuet of ruin and triumph. In the subway,… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“A firefly blinked into existence, drew half a word in the air. Then gone. A black bug secret in the night. Such… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“Well, imagine you are alone in a room. The lights are down low, you’ve got some scented candles going. Soothing New Age… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I'd never been much of an athlete, due to a physical condition I'd had since birth (unathleticism). Perhaps if there were a sport centered… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
I want to keep growing as a writer. I find myself doing unexpected projects and sort of challenging my idea of where I am… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
“Every Tuesday, James Fulton (and later, Orville Lever) stood in the downstairs drawing room and lectured on the intricacies of his science. Lectured on… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
I started writing in the '90s, so I was free to just have an eccentric career and not conform to some idea of what… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
“The Great War had always been between the white and the black. It always would be. Cora” — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
“The worst sort of scoundrels took up the chase. Drunkards, incorrigibles, poor whites who didn’t even own shoes delighted in this opportunity to scourge… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
Don’t go searching for a subject, let your subject find you. You can’t rush inspiration. … Once your subject finds you, it’s like falling… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
“its terms? Homer watched her as she dressed, like a valet who had waited on her since the cradle. “I’m caught,” Cora said. “You… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
These days I find myself wanting to avoid being pigeon-holed, ghettoized, held in a different category than other authors. And when people ask me… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in an alternative… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
“All he felt now was envy. These people had expectations. Of the world, of the future, it didn't matter--expectation was such an innovative concept… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
Growing up as a product of the black civil-rights movement, I had a lot of different models for black weirdness, whether it's Richard Pryor… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
Schools don't teach American history that well, especially a lot of black American history. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share
