People use the notion of God to bully people and hurt people, when we can use the concept to respect and uplift. Victor LaValle Read Quote
Education is gathering information and reading… No human being can thrive without some form of education. How you get it is up to you – the important thing is that you get it. Victor LaValle Read Quote
There’s the wonder of being able to do research from your own living room, of course. I do find that my biggest research issue, though, is how to frame my questions. Victor LaValle Read Quote
In the end, what’s any good reader really hoping for? That spark. That spell. That journey. Victor LaValle Read Quote
If you want to learn the true nature of a child you have to watch how she plays. If you want to learn the true nature of an adult you have to watch how she does her job. Victor LaValle Read Quote
I can’t inhabit my characters until I know what kind of work they do. This requires research because my jobs for the last decade have been author and professor, and I’d like to spare the world more author or professor novels. Victor LaValle Read Quote
In the past, a writer had to go outside and get to know others before learning about their work, but the Internet has made humanity more accessible for misanthropes like me. I read blogs, tweets, Facebook posts and Reddit threads where people detail their jobs. Victor LaValle Read Quote
Social media give me the privilege of learning about more people than I could meet in my whole life. Taken together, the Internet reads like the grandest character-driven novel humanity has ever known. Not much plot, though. Victor LaValle Read Quote
One of the most widely read novels by a black American is Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man.’ It is his masterwork – it won the National Book Award in 1953 and catapulted my man to the highest levels of literary esteem. Victor LaValle Read Quote
