Top John Edgar Wideman Quotes

John Edgar Wideman Biography

John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American writer, professor emeritus at Brown University, and sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.

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John Edgar Wideman Quotes

I really dislike it when people talk about "experimental," because any good writer is experimental.

Dislike, Good Writers, People, Talk

I had a deep prejudice against the South. It's taken me many years to get over that, be more open and thoughtful.

Open, Taken, Thoughtful, Years

I believe - what did Faulkner say? "The past is not even past. "

Believe, Faulkner, I Believe, Past, Say

I really dislike when people talk about "experimental," because any good writer is experimental. As a writer, you don't know what the hell you're doing. You're just doing it. You hope it works out well. I've been experimenting with these things myself in my own books.

Book, Books, Dislike, Know, People, Work Out

I can't pretend that I did one really awful thing - I took a bite out of the apple but now I'm never going to sin again.

Apples, Awful, Bite, Sin

When you're at the basketball court watching a game, one person may be talking about a fight he had with his wife, another is talking about the last hard-on he got, someone else is talking about the presidential election. The language and the tone and the voice - I'd love to be able to capture that spontaneity.

Basketball, Fighting, Love, Spontaneity, Talking, Watching

I'm not a fearful person, but I'm a pretty pessimistic person. So some of my best times are waiting, anticipating. That's the way it always has been with me, whether anticipating a ball game, anticipating a relationship.

Ball, Balls, Games, Person, Relationship, Waiting

My grandfather had asked me many times whether I'd like to come to South Carolina with him. He wanted to introduce me to our people down there and I didn't want to go. In those days, the South was still a place where black kids were lynched. Something horrible could happen to you. I've had that feeling my whole life.

Feelings, Kids, Life, Lynched, People, Whole

There is no American history. There is no French history. There is no John Wideman. There are all these dreams that are floating around. People construct them and fight with them and criticize them, and the world goes on. I don't think the stars pay much attention.

American, Dream, Fighting, Pay, People, Stars

Do not fall asleep in your enemy's dream.

Asleep, Dream, Enemy, Fall

Hell, I'm going to play pro basketball. I'm going to maybe be famous. I'm going to write books.

Basketball, Book, Books, Maybe, Pro, Writing

That's the beauty and the terror of being human beings: We just have these symbolic languages, these dreams, and that's all it ever is.

Being Human, Dream, Dreams, Human, Language, Symbolic

If Mumia Abu-Jamal has nothing important to say, why are so many powerful people trying to shut him up?

Important, Mumia, People, Powerful, Shut

Books are an attempt to control something that's uncontrollable. That's one of the beauties of African American life. There was this thing called slavery and adjustments were made. It literally destroyed millions, but it didn't destroy the inner lives of all the people who experienced it. There are still horrible things that go on because of the myth of race, but we don't have to succumb totally. If I had only a negative side of things to present, I think I would have much less of a drive to do it. Because what would be the point?

Adjustments, American, Book, Destroyed, People, Thinking

Even in my adult years, when I heard a white person speaking in a Southern accent I was initially suspicious.

Accent, Initially, Southern, White, Years

I don't like the way question marks look. They're really ugly. They look like blots. At some other point in my life, I might have disliked them because I never knew how to properly apply them. Also commas, and whether they were outside the quote or inside the quote - that all seemed like an unnecessary pain in the ass.

Life, Looks, Pain, Question, Ugly

Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.

Good, Important, Scary, Things, Writing

You have to be a minor superhero just to get to be a dignified man, and that's kind of exacerbated for men of color.

Color, Dignified, Kind, Men, Superhero

As a writer, you don't know what the hell you're doing. You're just doing it. You hope it works out well.

Doing You, Hell, Hope, Work Out, Writer

Our thoughts, our language, are always at a distance from whatever they're trying to describe. We're dreamers and - since we only have one life, and if we screw up we can get in a world of trouble - we're very intense dreamers. That's the beauty and the terror of being human beings: We just have these symbolic languages, these dreams, and that's all it ever is. There is no American or Frenchhistory. There are all these dreams that are floating around. People construct them and fight with them and criticize them, and the world goes on. I don't think the stars pay much attention.

Distance, Dream, Dreamers, Fight, Fighting, Thoughts

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John Edgar Wideman Biography

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