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Quote by Colson Whitehead

“Colored, Negro, Afro-American, African American. ... Every couple of years someone came up with something that got us an inch closer to the truth. Bit by bit we crept along. As if that thing we believed to be approaching actually existed.”

Quote by Colson Whitehead

Book:Apex Hides the Hurt

Work

Apex Hides the Hurt

Apex Hides the Hurt is a narrative that delves into the psychological and emotional journey of its central character, examining the intricate tapestry of personal identity and the impact of societal expectations on individual lives. more

Author

Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead is an American novelist known for his distinctive literary style and profound insights into historical themes. His works cover a range of topics from slavery to modern urban life, with his 'New York Trilogy' and 'The Underground Railroad' being particularly notable. more

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“New York City in life was much like New York City in death. It was still hard to get a cab, for example.”

Stills Hard Cities New York Example New York City Cab

Author:Colson Whitehead

“In keeping with my family's affection for doomed product lines and hexed formats, we purchased a Betamax. The year before, we'd bought a TRS-80 instead of an Apple II, and in due course we'd unbox Mattel's Intellivision, instead of Atari's legendary gizmo. This was good training for a writer, for the sooner you accept the fact that you are a deluded idiot who is always out of step with reality the better off you will be.”

Years Facts Reality Courses Lines Accepting Steps Products Training My Family Affection Dues Idiot Apples Doomed Better Off Format Legendary Deluded Atari

Author:Colson Whitehead

“It had been a humdrum couple of days, reaffirming his belief in reincarnation: everything was so boring that this could not be the first time he'd experienced it.”

Firsts Belief Couple First Time Boring Reincarnation So Boring Humdrum

Author:Colson Whitehead

“There will be no redemption because the men who run this place do not want redemption. They want to be as near to hell as they can.”

Men Want Running Hell He Man Redemption

Book:The Intuitionist: A Novel

Source: The Intuitionist: A Novel

“I can't blame modern technology for my predilection for distraction, not after all the hours I've spent watching lost balloons disappear into the clouds. I did it before the Internet, and I'll do it after the apocalypse, assuming we still have helium and weak-gripped children.”

Children Stills I Can Lost Hours Technology Modern Internet Weak Blame Assuming Clouds Disappear Distraction Apocalypse Balloons Modern Technology Helium

Author:Colson Whitehead

“Talking about New York is a way of talking about the world.”

World Way Talking New York Way Of Talking

Book:The Colossus of New York

Source: The Colossus of New York

“To put off the inevitable, we try to fix the city in place, remember it as it was, doing to the city what we would never allow to be done to ourselves. . . . New York City does not hold our former selves against us. Perhaps we can extend the same courtesy.”

Trying Doe Self Done Remember Cities New York Former Inevitable New York City Courtesy

Author:Colson Whitehead

“You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.”

Real New Yorkers

Book:The Colossus of New York

Source: The Colossus of New York

“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 in love. It will be your constant companion. Shadowing you, peeping in your windows, calling you at all hours to leave messages like, Only you understand me.”

Inspiration Fall Hours Subjects Calling Messages Window Constant Falling In Love Companion Leaving Me Understand Me Peeping

Author:Colson Whitehead

“Most literary critics agree that fiction cannot be reduced to mere falsehood. Well-crafted protagonists come to life, pornography causes orgasms, and the pretense that life is what we want it to be may conceivably bring about the desired condition. Hence religious parables, socialist realism, Nazi propaganda. And if this story likewise crawls with reactionary supernaturalism, that might be because its author longs to see letters scuttling across ceilings, cautiously beginning to reify themselves into angels. For if they could only do that, then why not us?”

Source: Europe Central