“The previous night in Tennessee, Ridgeway had called Cora and her mother a flaw in the American scheme. If two women were… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Once I got to college, it seemed that the Hamptons were a little bit too posh for me and didn't represent the… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I was 7 years old when 'Roots' was first broadcast, and my parents gathered all us kids around the TV to learn… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
My mom's mother was from Virginia, but I don't feel much of a tie. I'm very much anti-South for many, many reasons.… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“my father liked his Indian talk about the Great Spirit," Ridgeway said. "All these years late, I prefer the American spirit, 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
Being a slave meant never having the stability of knowing your family would be together as many years as God designed it… — 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
