I believe that one reason I began writing essays – a form without a form, until you make it – was this: you didn’t have to borrow from an emotionally and visually upsetting past, as one did in fiction, apparently, to write your story. Hilton Als Read Quote
Broadway is not about surprises. It’s about rewarding the putrid, formulaic crap that makes Broadway Broadway. Hilton Als Read Quote
One of the things I liked about writing for a magazine was a kind of anonymity. When you do books, it’s different than magazine pieces because you become a ‘figure.’ Hilton Als Read Quote
I never feel like I’ve done anything. Swear to God. I’m not kidding. So it’s always a surprise when somebody asks me to do anything. Hilton Als Read Quote
I grew up in a largely black community during the ’70s and ’80s that scoffed at ‘white’ music. That music – folk, rock, some disco – was considered soulless, aberrant, just one more example of the Caucasian’s desire to scream and yell and demand whatever their privilege and perpetual adolescence dictated they should demand. Hilton Als Read Quote
Racism seduces us with its desire to categorize, shutting out the living and breathing and ‘different’ world all around us. Hilton Als Read Quote
My mother reveres artists, and my sister and I have inherited her love of art and the stories about its creation. Hilton Als Read Quote
I don’t think that there are many, many strong, black male role models who provide a certain kind of really American, Southern-based comfort that Madea grows out of. She’s a signpost in our Obama world of traditional Christian values. Hilton Als Read Quote
I think that writers are best served by sticking to their writing. Not having loads of theories about the best way to position the writing. I think that if the writing is good and the point of view is strong, the writing is going to take care of itself. Hilton Als Read Quote
