Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead is a New York-based novelist. He is the author of the 1999 novel The Intuitionist, as well as four other novels and two books of non-fiction. In 2002, he received a MacArthur Fellowship...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
CountryUnited States of America
jobs book writing
In terms of the economics, yes obviously the rise of e-books and how people choose to read books has a big effect on the economics of the game. But whether people are buying them on paper or downloading them there's still some poor wretch in a room who is trying to write a poem, write a story, write a novel. And so my job doesn't change. It's just how people receive it and economic conditions on the ground change, but that doesn't affect what I write.
perfect incentives evolution
It is failure that guides evolution; perfection provides no incentive for improvement, and nothing is perfect.
real moving gun
As time went on, we learned to arm ourselves in our different ways. Some of us with real guns, some of us with more ephemeral weapons, an idea or improbable plan or some sort of formulation about how best to move through the world. An idea that will let us be. Protect us and keep us safe. But a weapon nonetheless.
monsters pretending persons
A monster is a person who has stopped pretending.
discussing hang home near people rarely trading work
A lot of my writer friends live near me, and that makes people think we just hang around with one another in cafes, trading work and discussing 'Harper's' and what not. But I rarely see them. We're home working.
horror inspired movies science writer
I was inspired to become a writer by horror movies and science fiction.
bit moved snob
I live in Brooklyn. I moved here 14 years ago for the cheap rent. It was a little embarrassing because I was raised in Manhattan, and so I was a bit of a snob about the other boroughs.
creatively trying
I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me.