Washington post columnist, thriller writer who writes about the cia and such. This month, Pulitzer Prize winning author, Colson Whitehead as our guest. His most recent book is the under ground railroad. Mr. Whitehead, whats the appropriate response new book is appraised by oprah, president obama, you won the National Book award, what is the appropriate response . If only it took the pain aw away. [laughter] has taken off in a way thats unexpected and startling and wonderful. Just try to enjoy it despite my best efforts. Why does it put you in a better mood . Ive been writing for 20 something years doing fiction 20 some years, sometimes we write a book and people dig it and understand it sometimes write a book and no one cares and its sort of disappears so i have the pride the job i did with the book. Either you dig the groups of two prospectors or you dont and so you are either along for the ride description or not. Definitely when i was writing was my second attempt at a novel. My fir
Welcome to book tv in depth this is especially or fiction on indepth and last month was David Ignatius who writes about the cia. This month we have Colson Whitehead is our guest his most recent book is the underground railroad. What is the appropriate response mr. Whitehead when your books are praised by the president obama and ohio oprah and the National Book award . It takes the pain away. [laughter] this book has taken off in a way that is unexpected and wonderfu wonderful. So i think my lucky stars i sleep a little better, a better mood generally, and try to enjoy it despite my best efforts. Why does it put you in a better mood . I have been writing 20 something years doing fiction 20 years. And no one particularly cares. So i have the pride of thinking i did a good job with the book and the bonus of other people to see that as well. Host your first book was about elevator repair people. How do you sell a book like that quick. Exactly. So when i send it to my agent with the concept
Los angeles boot suit riots. He described how they came to symbol ice symbolize a challenge to racial identities. This is about an hour and a half. All right. So let me just remind you where we are in our ongoing narrative of Mexican American history. Last week we talked a lot about 1910 and the mexican revolution and the dramatic changes that this made for the mexicanorigin folk on the northern side of the border. This week we are going to begin discussion of our third flash point in the course, which is 1943, really as a standin for world war ii. If you recall, at the end of last week we had been discussing those millionplus mexican migrants who moved north of the border into the United States, many of them hundreds of thousands of them and their children settling in the south western United States, california, texas and elsewhere. We discussed their experiences, their trials and tribulations, what they lived there in the 1920s and the 1930s and the great depression. I mentioned a co
Need to know a little book about who you are. Im sure people do but just in case lets talk about that. You might want to talk about how you think about your own life. Lets start with you up in new jersey. And you grew up how did your parents get to new jersey . Who were the . Guest im the son of a black man from the segregated south. My father is 82 years old. He was born in 1937 in longview texas and raised in galveston under segregation, under jim crow. He moved to the west as soon as he could and was running war on poverty programs under Lyndon Johnsons Great Society initiative. He met my mother who is nine years his junior in san diego where he was heading up poverty programs and she was fresh out of college. She is the daughter of evangelical christians. Her father was a minister and he was very much a part of this Mainstream American Society that was certainly opposed interracial marriage in the laidback and 60s, early 1970s, you didnt use the word white about anybody. [laughing]