After college, I was living in New York and wrote furiously, a huge novel that I knew was a failure. I hoped… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
A novel, even a social realist one, can't simply be a comprehensive rendering of what is. A novel requires a special angle… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
I want the flashbacks to feel that once you're there they have their own unity, their own kind of atmospheric sensibility; I… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
One of the ready advantages of writing a road or quest story is that it mirrors the experience of writing a novel. — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
Part of writing a novel is being willing to leap into the blackness. You have very little idea, really, of what's going… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
What's fun about a dystopian novel is that we can enjoy and be entertained. But that world is only slightly different, right?… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
I don't like to use writing assignments, exercises. I think too often people get comfortable writing in that vein, but you can't… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
Part of writing a novel is being willing to leap into the blackness. You have very little idea, really, of what's going… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
Historical novels are about costumery. I think that's the magic and mystery of fiction. I don't want to write historical fiction but… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
Maybe someone's who's a different kind of writer [would think otherwise] - someone who'd be just as comfortable writing essays on what… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
I think my parents recognised that I'd always wanted to be a writer, and so they didn't think that this was some idle, faddish… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
Some writers are writing one great, big book and just taking all these different avenues towards it. They might seem on the outside to… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
I try to be aware of what I'm concerned about, aware of how I feel about myself in the world, aware of how I… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
“I would give most anything to hear my father's talk again, the crash and bang and stop of his language, always hurtling by. I… — Chang-rae Lee Copy Share Image
We have hopes and make plans, and if they are dashed or waylaid, we naturally rationalize and redraw the map to locate ourselves anew.… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
I remember when I was in art classes, I hated following the assignments. And I would get in trouble for doing something totally different… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
The past, as you suggest, is absolutely present at all times and the present is born from the past. I wouldn't want to suggest… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
Most people don't think about race as much as I do. They don't have to. — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
Not to any really influential effect, but certainly there have been comments that have surprised me. It's surprising sometimes to get particular perspectives on… — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
My family immigrated when I was 3, and our predecessors inhabited the Korean Peninsula for as long as can be recalled. — Chang-Rae Lee Copy Share Image
