Person
Every book Colson Whitehead recommended on podcasts
Colson Whitehead’s most recommended books
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
- Drown by Junot Díaz
- The book of lists by David Wallechinsky
- The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs
- Roots by Alex Haley
- Serpico by Peter Maas
Colson Whitehead discussed his literary preferences and his own works during a special edition of The Book Review podcast. He named Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and Junot Díaz's Drown as books he has read frequently, and highlighted David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace's The Book of Lists as the book he has read the most in his life, describing it as a compendium of the most useful knowledge in the world. Whitehead also reflected on several of his own publications, including the reception of his second book, John Henry Days, rereading his debut novel The Intuitionist and observing his early use of adjectives, and writing his acclaimed novel The Underground Railroad at age forty-six. Additionally, he cited Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl as an influential text when researching slave narratives and mentioned reading Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels as research for the structure of his own writing.
Books recommended by Colson Whitehead
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historical fiction novel that reimagines the antebellum South by turning the secret network of abolitionist routes into a literal subterranean railway system utilized by an enslaved woman named Cora seeking freedom.
Discussed“and the Underground Railroad was the best book I could write when I was 46 and if I'm doing the best work I can each year I can be proud of each book and they'll hold up for me at least”
Where to get it
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The intuitionist
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead is a distinctive debut novel that blends municipal politics, architectural intrigue, and magical realism around the life of a pioneering elevator inspector.
Discussed“I reread the intuitionist I was I was writing something about it and that came out in 99 and I was struck by one my excessive use of adjectives and and two I felt that young Coulson was trying to get at something”
Where to get it
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Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison is a powerful historical fiction novel that tells the harrowing story of Sethe, an escaped enslaved woman haunted by the trauma of her past and the literal ghost of her daughter.
Discussed“and I was like I'll read them and see how these great people have tackled the subject and I got 30 pages into beloved and I was like I'm totally screwed Tony Morrison genius”
Where to get it
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez is a landmark novel that chronicles the multi-generational history of the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo and stands as a masterwork of magical realism.
Discussed“and then I went back to 100 Years of Solitude which touched me very deeply when I was in high school and Garcia Marcus's use of magic realism became the the tool became the model for my Approach”
Where to get it
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Harlem Shuffle
Harlem Shuffle is a 2021 novel by Colson Whitehead that follows Ray Carney, a furniture salesman in 1960s Harlem navigating a double life involving low-level crime and heists.
Discussed“he's a divided nature and over the course of first book Harlem Shuffle and then this book crook Manifesto”
Where to get it
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Drown
Drown by Junot Díaz is a powerful collection of interconnected short stories exploring the immigrant experience, poverty, and coming of age between the Dominican Republic and New Jersey.
Recommended“it would be Juno Diaz's drown the rings of Saturn and stuff I've”
Where to get it
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The book of lists
The Book of Lists by David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace is a legendary compendium filled with bizarre trivia, historical rankings, and fascinating cultural facts.
Recommended“it is the book of lists by David malachinski Irving and Amy Wallace it is a compendium of the most useful knowledge in the world”
Where to get it
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The Crying of Lot 49
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon is a postmodern novel known for its intricate plotting, paranoia, and exploration of vast, hidden conspiracy networks.
Recommended“it would be crying abot 49”
Where to get it
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Crook Manifesto
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead is a gritty, atmospheric crime novel and a direct sequel to Harlem Shuffle, following its protagonist through the turbulent criminal underworld of 1970s New York.
Discussed“I was halfway through crook Manifesto when Harlem Shuffle came out so it would have been very embarrassing if everyone hated Harlem Shuffle and here I am with here's my sequel to the book no one liked also”
Where to get it
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Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is a classic satirical novel that follows Lemuel Gulliver on extraordinary voyages to strange and fantastical lands.
Discussed“and then finally I use the analogy to Gold travels and they're like oh I get it even though I'm not like a big Gus travels fan and I I read it as research for the book”
Where to get it
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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Discussed“I was exposed to one of the most famous ones is by Harriet Jacobs incidents in the life of a slave girl and she writes about the particular hell of the female slave”
Where to get it
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John Henry Days
John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead is a rich, humorous, and poignant novel that weaves together the American folklore of the legendary steel-driving man, the history of the railroad, and contemporary media culture.
Discussed“in the case of me my second book John Henry Days made a big splash and I got and I gained some foreign Publishers”
Where to get it
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Roots
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley is a monumental historical novel that traces several generations of an African American family from freedom through slavery to emancipation, leaving a profound mark on American culture and historical awareness.
Discussed“I don't think people walk around think about slavery in a deep way all the time in their daily lives obviously exposed to Roots When I was very young and studied it in college”
Where to get it
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Serpico
Discussed“so going to the non-fiction book that Sero was based on by Peter Moss going to The Nap commission report which is basically a map to corruption”
Where to get it
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The Colossus of New York
The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead is a lyrical, evocative collection of essays that captures the pulsating rhythm, complexity, and emotional resonance of New York City.
Discussed“Colossus of New York my first sort of book of essays about the city happened because of but it was after 911 and I was trying to figure out how to write how to live in my city”
Where to get it
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The Nickel Boys
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel depicting the brutal abuses suffered by teenage boys at a reform school in the Jim Crow-era American South.
Discussed“but the nickel boys just seemed like the best followup for me intellectually after the Underground Railroad so it was it real relief to be able to tell jokes again and have fun with conventions in a way have a sense of play which due to the subject matter of the nickel boys and Underground Railroad I couldn't do before”
Where to get it
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The noble hustle
The noble hustle by Colson Whitehead is a non-fiction humor book about poker and personal reflection.
Discussed“before Underground Railroad I wrote a book called The Noble Hustle which for me is just a humor book about being a weird depressed middle-aged man who goes the World Series of Poker”
Where to get it
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Zone One
Zone One by Colson Whitehead is a dystopian zombie novel that blends genre tropes with sharp social commentary, serving as the author's literary precursor to his acclaimed works The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys.
Discussed“and I think if I look back at Zone one the zombie novel which was the fix the novel I wrote before underground ro road and then nickel boy”
Where to get it
Books Colson Whitehead wrote
- The Nickel Boys
- Harlem Shuffle
- John Henry Days
- The Underground Railroad
- The intuitionist
- The noble hustle
- Crook Manifesto
- The Colossus of New York
- Zone One
- Sag Harbor
Appearances
Other mentions (10: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Charles Johnson's the Middle Passage another novel about the Middle Passage”
“I wrote a book called Sag Harbor about growing up in the 80s”
“I had an idea to reread beloved and the known world and Middle Passage”
“I had an idea to reread beloved and the known world and Middle Passage”
“when Noble Hustle came out and I think it's a superb book it's my book about the World Series of Poker”
“some of my characters like pepper who was a seasoned criminal in the Harlem Shuffle who's seen it all”
“but I'm now doing a second book about Carney in the 1970s”
“I don't think people people walk around think about slavery in a deep way all the time in our daily lives um obviously exposed to Roots”
“I had an idea to reread r beloved and the known world and Middle Passage”
“I had an idea to reread r beloved and the known world and Middle Passage”