“You’d rather be here than in Africa. The trump card all narrow-minded nativists play. If you put a cupcake to my head, of course, I’d rather be here than any place in Africa, though I hear Johannesburg ain’t that bad… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
There are things I don't like, like sitting at the head of the class. It makes me uncomfortable. I'll do it in a seminar… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
In The Sellout I tried to capture how we can talk and see race, how we see urbanity, and how we see our history. — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
In White Boy Shuffle, I combined my seventh-grade teacher, Mr. Takemoto, who really saved me - I don't think I've ever told anyone this - and my first basketball coach, Mr. Shimizu, into one character. Something about the way they talked about things, and their attitudes, had a huge impact on me. Not that I necessarily agreed with them. It… — Paul Beatty Copy Share
I co-taught a seminar called Small Group Processes with my professor. I learned so much from it, so much about myself, about groups, how… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
I'll say this, and it'll sound like bullshit, but it's not: I don't really pay attention to this stuff [Man Booker Prize] very much.… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
“Hereos. Idols. They're never who you think they are. Shorter. Nastier. Smellier. And when you finally meet them, there's something that makes you want… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
There are many similarities between Germans and blacks. The nouns themselves are loaded with so much historical baggage it's impossible for anyone to be… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
Like when you have the right title for something you're writing and you get lost - you can always go back to the title… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
I had a student once come up to me and we were talking about this incident, and, of course, I never had the right… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
There are always so many things happening [to us] at one time. We read Isherwood's A Single Man in class, and we had to ask: How is he talking about all this stuff: teaching, being lonely, all his memories, all at the same time? He's telling us: This is where my head is at, let me be straightforward. And of… — Paul Beatty Copy Share
I forget how beautiful and calm California is. It's not so much about the place, but also the age that I came to the… — Paul Beatty Copy Share Image
“My litmus test of compatibility is 'Tom Cruise.' I hate people who hate Tom Cruise, cultural automatons who at the mention of his name reflexively bridle and say the diminutive thespian and Theta level Scientoligist is 'crazy' and 'a terrible actor'. They hate him because he's easy to hate. They think that despising Tom Cruise's lack of personality and supposed… — Paul Beatty Copy Share
![“I'll say this, and it'll sound like bullshit, but it's not: I don't really pay attention to this stuff [Man Booker Prize] very much. I think part of it is I can see myself wondering who's doing what and getting jealous, and none of that's healthy for me. So I just don't really.” quote by Paul Beatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/830/paul-beatty-6684_attention_i-ll-say-this-and-it-ll-sound-like-bulls_289719.jpg)
