American Fiction 2023 quotes, page 2

Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison: You're not fed up with it? Black people in poverty, black people rapping, black people are slaves, black people murdered by police, whole soaring narratives about black folks in dire circumstances who still manage to maintain their dignity before they die.I mean, I'm not saying these things aren't real, but we're also more than this. It's like so many writers like you can't envision us without some white boot on our necks.

Sintara Golden

Do you get angry at Bret Easton Ellis or Charles Bukowski for writing about the downtrodden? Or is your ire reserved strictly for black women?
Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison: Nobody reads Bukowski thinking his is the definitive white experience, but people... white people read your book and confine us to it. They think we're all like that.

Arthur

Imagine exploding your brain trying to think of a toilet paper commercial.

Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison

Let me say first, Carl, that I'm honored you'd choose me out of all the black writers you could go to out of fear of being called racist.

Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison

My life is a disaster, but not in the way you'd think reading this shit. These things reduce us, and they do it over and over again because too many white people and people, apparently like you, devour this slop like pigs in a dumpster to stay current at **** cocktail parties.

Arthur

Nobody in Hollywood reads. They get their assistants to read things and then summarize them. The whole town runs on book reports.

Arthur

People wanna love you, Monk. I personally don't know what they see in you, but they wanna love you. You should let them love all of you.

Sintara Golden

Potential is what people see when they think what's in front of them isn't good enough.

Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison

The dumber I behave, the richer I get.