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Every book Colson Whitehead recommended on podcasts
Colson Whitehead appears on The Book Review in a special edition focused on his literary career, his writing process, and the foundational books that have shaped his perspective. Whitehead discussed works he has revisited and read frequently, including Thomas Pynchon's 'The Crying of Lot 49' and Junot Díaz's 'Drown.' He singled out David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace's 'The Book of Lists' as the compendium of useful knowledge that he has read more than any other book in his life. Reflecting on his own bibliography, Whitehead discussed the reception of his second book, 'John Henry Days,' evaluated his debut novel 'The Intuitionist,' and considered the effort behind writing 'The Underground Railroad' at age 46. Additionally, he cited historical and classical influences on his structure and research, noting Harriet Jacobs's 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' for its depiction of the struggles of a female slave, and Jonathan Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels,' which he utilized as structural research for his own narrative.
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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Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison is a powerful, haunting novel about a formerly enslaved woman haunted by the trauma of her past and the literal ghost of the daughter she lost.
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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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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One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez is a landmark masterpiece of magical realism that chronicles the multi-generational saga of the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo.
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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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 complex postmodern novel that follows Oedipa Maas as she uncovers a vast, centuries-old conspiracy involving a rival postal service known as Tristero.
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 masterpiece that uses fantastical voyages to different lands to mock human nature, political corruption, and societal follies.
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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Harlem Shuffle
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is a richly textured historical crime novel set in 1960s New York that follows a furniture salesman navigating the criminal underworld while trying to maintain his respectability.
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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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
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 landmark historical novel that traces the sprawling lineage of an African American family from the abduction of Kunta Kinte in West Africa through generations of enslavement to eventual emancipation in the United States.
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 powerful historical novel depicting two Black teenagers confined to a brutal and corrupt reform school in the 1960s Jim Crow 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
- Sag Harbor
- The noble hustle
- Harlem Shuffle
- The Nickel Boys
- The Underground Railroad
- The intuitionist
- Crook Manifesto
- The Colossus of New York
- Zone One
- Cool Machine
- John Henry Days
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”