Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I try to keep each different book different from the last. So 'Sag Harbor' is very different from 'Apex Hides the Hurt;'… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I always have a few ideas that are percolating, and then after I've finished a book and it's a year later, and… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I wrote a book of essays about New York called 'The Colossus of New York,' but it's not about - you know,… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I always try to mix it up with each book - changing tone, changing style keeps the work very vital for me. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
As I get older and write more books I'm definitely allowing the humorous side of my personality more rein in my work. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
In terms of why everything is different, each book is different than the one before because I'm so bored of what I… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I can't say that you should extract this or that value from my books explicitly. They are up for interpretation. In terms… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I grew up reading the 'Village Voice' and wanting to be one of these multidisciplinary music writers, film writers, book writers. And… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I write books and either people read them or they don't read them. The rise of Facebook or e-books doesn't change the… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Some people don't like my fiction, because they prefer the nonfiction. But moving around keeps the work fresh for me and, hopefully,… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
'John Henry Days' was already half in the can before my first book came out, so I'd already started something that was… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I enjoy thinking about how race plays out over the centuries, how technology evolves, how cities transform themselves. These subjects are present… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Each book requires a different kind of treatment and structural gambit. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
In terms of the economics, yes obviously the rise of e-books and how people choose to read books has a big effect… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I write the books that I'm compelled to and I definitely learn things about the world when I write them, and I… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Early on my career, I figured out that I just have to write the book I have to write at that moment.… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Twenty years ago, when I started writing, I didn't define myself as an African-American writer. And then you write books and you're… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
'Sag Harbor' was a very different book for me. It changed the way I thought about books that I wanted to do. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Most of my books have always worked through juxtaposition, jumping through different point of views and time. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“The white man in the book, Gulliver, roved from peril to peril, each new island a new predicament to solve before he… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I think each book has its own way of accommodating my concerns, whether it's about race, America, technology, the city. — 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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
“The Great War had always been between the white and the black. It always would be. Cora” — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
There's always an attack on the sophomore novel from some quarters. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
