“I think a book that is over 400 pages should be split in two. I don't know that there's anything that interesting that can go on for 700 pages. I think that is a little bit indulgent.” ThinkingKnowsShouldLittlesTwoBookBitsInterestingGoes OnLittle BitPagesSplits Author:Chris Abani
“My mom taught me to read when I was two or three. When I was five I read and wrote well enough to do my nine-year older brother's homework in exchange for chocolate or cigarettes. By the time I was 10, I was reading Orwell, Tolstoy's War and Peace, and the Koran. I was reading comic books too.” YearsWellsTwoBookWarEnoughThreeReadingFiveTaughtBrotherMomMy MomNineComicChocolateCigaretteComic BookHomeworkNine YearsOlder Brother Author:Chris Abani
“I think that most writers who are trying to write important and difficult books are in many ways putting their own humanity into question. Sometimes the journey is finding out where you stand in relationship to your own humanity and to the humanity of others.” ThinkingWayWritingTryingImportantBookSometimesHumanityDifficultJourneyFindingsWhere You Stand Author:Chris Abani
“My books are often shelved around those of Chinua Achebe and Margaret Atwood, or Chimamanda Adichie and Monica Ali. All of this depends, of course, on the bookstore and how conversant the shelf stocker is with the alphabet.” BookCoursesDependsShelvesBookstoresAlphabetMonica Author:Chris Abani
“Fiction is more dangerous than nonfiction because it can seduce better. I think we all know this, know that deeper truths can be approached in fiction than in fact. There are risks for the reader, because after reading certain books you find you have changed irreversibly. There are risks for writers: in China, now, and Ethiopia and other countries right now, writers face real persecution.” ThinkingKnowsBookRealCountryFactsFacesCertainReadingFictionRiskDangerousChangedReaderRight NowChinaDeeperNonfictionOther CountriesPersecutionSeducingEthiopiaYou Have Changed Author:Chris Abani
“Fiction is risky for writers also in that the process of making certain books, of shaping certain narratives, leaves scars and marks on your inner life.” BookCertainProcessFictionMarkNarrativeScarInner Life Author:Chris Abani
“Unlike other books or TV shows or sometimes life, my narrative worlds are stripped of implicit moral centers. There is only what you bring. That makes the characters risky in every way and the narrative, a journey of change for the reader. But I make the journey as fun as I can.” WorldWayI CanBookSometimesCharacterShowsFunMoralJourneyTvsReaderNarrativeTv ShowsImplicitSometimes In Life Author:Chris Abani
