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Paul Beatty Biography

Paul Beatty (born June 9, 1962) is an American author and an associate professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout. It was the first time a writer from the United States was honored with the Man Booker.

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Paul Beatty Quotes

I'm doing all these interviews with the British press, the Italian press, and others. They all want to talk about this stuff. I don't have a stance; I don't have a go-to thing to say about any of this.

Italian, Press, Stuff, Thing, Want

I think, and a lot of that has to do with where I grew up in California; [status] isn't something I think about that much.

California, Grew, Grew Up, Status, Think, Thinking

We don't act the same in every situation. Things bleed into all kinds of other things, from behavior to identity.

Behavior, Bleed, Identity, Kind, Same, Situation

I read an interview with a Japanese freestyle jazz musician once, and he said something like, "Everything I'm going to tell you is not going to be true. " He's not saying, "I'm trying to lie to you. " But he's kind of saying that you can never say what something really is.

Lying, Musician, Read, Say, Tell, Trying

I'm very fortunate. I'm not much of a self-promoter or anything.

Fortunate, Promoters, Self

I've written a little bit in Germany.

Germany, Littles, Written

I talk about folding it in often with Althea, my girlfriend. She's getting her doctoral degree at Berkeley and she talks about how even when writing these very academic, and, for the most part, serious papers there's just so much going on in her head and heart, and it's a reminder that there's a reason that she's studying these things.

Girlfriend, Heart, Part, Talks, Writing

Well, it's not all the same, but there are a lot of parallels. I'm not sure how to answer [on psychology background], but I think when I was studying psychology I had a professor and a friend who would talk about "process" all the time. Your process, his process, the group's process. There's some carryover from that discussion to my creative work.

Creative, Parallels, Psychology, Same, Thinking

It's all the same for me, how I teach, how I write, how I think.

Writing, Thinking, Teach, Write, Same

I try to be accommodating, but I'm pretty much a loner.

Accommodating, Loner, Pretty, Trying

If New York is the City That Never Sleeps, then Los Angeles is the City That's Always Passed Out on the Couch.

Cities, Los, New York, Passed, Sleep, York

There's this line between propriety and how we really speak and how we really think. And I'm just trying to have fun with that stuff.

Fun, Propriety, Stuff, Thinking, Trying

Sometimes I would get frustrated, I'd think, "You know, this is a good book, how come no one is paying attention to it?" So it's nice to have some recognition.

Nice, Book, Thinking, Come, Know

The Sellout is about friends and relatives who have touched me in real ways.

Friends, Real, Relatives, Sellout, Touched, Way

That's such a great book [Bloods]. That's a perfect way to articulate this thing that we're talking about. Just because someone is a black general, doesn't mean this person is going to have a certain outlook on it.

Book, Mean, Blood, Outlook, Person

If I'm in LA, I'm close to home, and that just brings up all these other things, good and bad. There is a reason why I am not there. That's what I have to remind myself of. But I'm healthier in California, probably a little happier, maybe. I forget how beautiful and calm California is. It's not so much about the place, but also the age that I came to the place and, well, other things. New York is hard.

Age, Beautiful, Close, Home, York

My British publisher has this independent press. It's pretty small; they actually won last year. And she's got this great energy, and she's fiercely independent, and you know this book was a hard sell. No one wanted to buy this book. But she did, and so it's paid off for her, I hope.

Book, Fiercely, Independent, Press, Pretty, Years

It's just never the same. At least for me. It's probably because it's just who I am, I never know what that [truth] is. It's so momentary to go, "Oh, yeah, that's true. " That's a fundamental starting point for me - to figure out what's true from moment to moment to moment.

Fundamentals, Moment, Moments, Starting, Truth, Who I Am

It makes me think about how you hear these young people say, "I see you, man. " Or even if you go and watch some basketball game over the summer and the announcer goes, "I see you," and you see that player smile. You know what I mean? That thing of just being recognized, especially when you do a little subtle thing. I don't know.

Basketball, Mean, People, Subtle, Summer

I'm healthier in California, probably a little happier, maybe.

California, Healthier, Littles, Maybe, Probably

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