Colson Whitehead Looks Back at ‘The Underground Railroad’

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When we recently asked just over 500 writers and other literary experts and enthusiasts to offer their thoughts on the best works of the 21st century so far, we thought it would also be fun to ask some of the writers represented to reflect on their books and careers. In the first of those interviews, Colson Whitehead remembers what it was like to write and publish “The Underground Railroad”

“It was a wild time, definitely,” Whitehead said. “And I try to hold on to the surprising pleasure of the whole experience. I was just trying to do my usual thing. Don’t screw up the idea, Colson. Like every day, it’s, Don’t screw it up. Don’t screw it up. But from the moment I gave my first pages to my wife and then my editor and my agent, I knew that something different was happening.”

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