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" The idea of sacrifice is integral to the John Henry myth. Heroic figures have to die in order for us to have our stories; we live and stand on their bones. "
Colson Whitehead
Die
Us
Stand
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" In college, I wrote maybe three short stories. "
Colson Whitehead
Short
Maybe
College
" If the world's nations can set aside their petty bickering over religion, politics, and territory, certainly I can 'get that Olympic Spirit' and rise above my prejudices. "
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World
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" There's not a lot of good TV. "
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TV
Good
Lot
" I grew up reading the 'Village Voice' and wanting to be one of these multidisciplinary music writers, film writers, book writers. And I lucked out getting a job at the 'Voice' right after college. "
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" I think a joke is a form of truth-telling. A good joke that's absurd contains elements of our daily darkness and also a possibility to escape that darkness. So, for me, humor is an attempt to capture everyday tragedy and everyday hopeful moments that we experience all of the time. "
Colson Whitehead
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Humor
Good
" I was inspired to become a writer by horror movies and science fiction. "
Colson Whitehead
Horror
Movies
Science
" In the apocalypse, I think those average, mediocre folks are the ones who are going to live. "
Colson Whitehead
Average
Those
Who
" I enjoy thinking about how race plays out over the centuries, how technology evolves, how cities transform themselves. These subjects are present in some of my books and absent in others. "
Colson Whitehead
Over
Race
Technology
" Access to information, to music or any kind of culture, is getting faster and faster and more streamlined. At each juncture, people are thrown into tumult and have to adapt or die. "
Colson Whitehead
Information
Culture
People
" I like to explore different ideas of race, how the concept of race has evolved in the country. It's one thing I enjoy talking about, but I don't feel compelled to talk about it. "
Colson Whitehead
Race
Ideas
Feel
" You can't rush inspiration. "
Colson Whitehead
You
Rush
Inspiration
" I usually have two or three ideas floating around. When I have free time, the one I end up thinking most about is the one I end up pursuing. "
Colson Whitehead
Free
Three
Thinking
" I'm someone who just likes being in my cave and thinking up weird stuff. "
Colson Whitehead
Cave
Someone
Up
" You can raze the old buildings and erect magnificent corporate towers, hose down Port Authority, but you can't change people. "
Colson Whitehead
Down
People
Authority
" Some books are well-received with critics; other books sell. "
Colson Whitehead
Sell
Books
Critics
" I didn't know I was a zombie pedant until I started considering what from the zombie canon to keep in 'Zone One' and what to ignore. "
Colson Whitehead
Know
Started
Zombie
" I do write about race a lot, but I don't think writers - of any shade or background or whatever - have to write about certain subjects. "
Colson Whitehead
Whatever
Write
Lot
" I was sort of a miserable teenager. "
Colson Whitehead
Miserable
Sort
Teenager
" When I'm working on a book, I try to do eight pages a week. That seems like a good amount. Less than that, I'm not getting a nice momentum, and more than that, I'm probably putting out too much crap. "
Colson Whitehead
Book
Good
Momentum
" In 'John Henry Days,' I was taking my idea of junketeering and sort of blowing it up to absurd extremes. "
Colson Whitehead
Absurd
Days
Idea
" The readership for 'Sag Harbor' was different from people who'd read me before - it was linear and realistic, not as strange as 'The Intuitionist.' Did they carry over to 'Zone One,' a story about zombies in New York? Some, some not. I'm used to people not caring about my other books. "
Colson Whitehead
New
People
Caring
" I was 7 years old when 'Roots' was first broadcast, and my parents gathered all us kids around the TV to learn about how we got here. But it wasn't until I sat down and immersed myself in the research that I got the barest inkling of what it meant to be a slave. "
Colson Whitehead
Research
Myself
Parents
" Generally, I walk around in a glum mood. "
Colson Whitehead
Generally
Walk
Around
" I like questions that tee me up to make weird jokes, frankly. "
Colson Whitehead
Like
Questions
Up
" What isn't said is as important as what is said. "
Colson Whitehead
Important
Said
" Slavery was a violent, brutal, immoral system, and in accurately depicting how it worked, you have to include that, obviously. Or else you are lying. "
Colson Whitehead
System
Brutal
How
" I admire Vegas's purity, its entirely wholesome artificiality. "
Colson Whitehead
Vegas
Wholesome
Purity
" I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me. "
Colson Whitehead
Keep
Trying
Things
" A lot of early Misfits song titles are inspired by old B-movies, which were my Popeye's spinach when I was a kid. "
Colson Whitehead
Inspired
Kid
Old
" I write at home. I like to be able to take a nap, watch TV, make a sandwich, and if I wake up and don't feel like working, I'm not going to bang my head on my desk all day: I'll go out and do something else. "
Colson Whitehead
Watch
Home
Nap