Mat Johnson Quotes

• I start with fear. It comes in so many forms. When I write, some of the fear goes away. So I write into the fear, and even more dissipates. I want to be scared while writing. I want to bring it to the surface so I can banish it.

  Mat Johnson

  Writing, Want, Scared

  "'Morrissey's hair, bongs made of apples, MTV's 120 Minutes': Inside this month's hottest new books". Interview with Teddy Wayne, www.salon.com. May 20, 2015.

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• People aren't social. They're tribal. Race doesn't exist, but tribes are real.

  Mat Johnson

  Real, Race, People

  Source: www.npr.org

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• It is a great moment in every freak's life when he or she finds out that at least they are not the only one.

  Mat Johnson

  Freak, Moments, Great Moments

  Mat Johnson (2011). “Pym: A Novel”, p.138, Spiegel & Grau

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• Long-haul trucking. Just roaming the country, alone, with audiobooks and podcasts, sleeping in the back of the cab, showering at gas stations at 4 a.m., minimal human contact. That's living the dream.

  Mat Johnson

  Dream, Country, Sleep

  "'Morrissey's hair, bongs made of apples, MTV's 120 Minutes': Inside this month's hottest new books". Interview with Teddy Wayne, www.salon.com. May 20, 2015.

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• Even drunk, I knew any escape plan that involved going to Detroit, Michigan, was a harbinger of doom.

  Mat Johnson

  Drunk, Michigan, Detroit

  Mat Johnson (2011). “Pym: A Novel”, p.8, Spiegel & Grau

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• The sociopaths - that's the real problem. The whole street demeanor is about pretending to be a sociopath as well so that the real ones can't find you.

  Mat Johnson

  Real, Problem, Sociopath

  Mat Johnson (2015). “Loving Day: A Novel”, p.6, Spiegel & Grau

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• For some reason, people always assign high cheekbones to some ethnicity, but apparently by their regards, everybody on earth has high cheekbones. So I don't know if that matters.

  Mat Johnson

  Ethnicity, People, Earth

  "Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. June 29, 2015.

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• Everybody just gets on my nerves after like, 10 minutes, you know.

  Mat Johnson

  Nerves, Minutes, Knows

  "Writer Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. June 29, 2015.

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• I love the idea of biracial. I actually don't use the word biracial. I tend to use mixed. Biracial to me accentuates the word race, and, you know, I don't really care for it.

  Mat Johnson

  Race, Ideas, Use

  "Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. June 29, 2015.

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• I look white to a lot of people. And I'm not. I'm African-American. I'm mixed. I like to call myself Mulatto because that definition fits. So, you know, I've dealt with the conflict my whole life between how I look and my actual ethnic and racial identity.

  Mat Johnson

  White, People, African American

  "Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. June 29, 2015.

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• I'm really suspicious of anybody who comes in and says, this is your identity now, or this is your belief system, and now that you have this, everything's going to be great.

  Mat Johnson

  Identity, Belief, Belief Systems

  "Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. June 29, 2015.

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• My weak suit is whatever each reader hates about each book.

  Mat Johnson

  Hate, Book, Suits

  "'Morrissey's hair, bongs made of apples, MTV's 120 Minutes': Inside this month's hottest new books". Interview with Teddy Wayne, www.salon.com. May 20, 2015.

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• My strong suit is that I've been willing to risk on the page to get somewhere interesting.

  Mat Johnson

  Strong, Interesting, Risk

  "'Morrissey's hair, bongs made of apples, MTV's 120 Minutes': Inside this month's hottest new books". Interview with Teddy Wayne, www.salon.com. May 20, 2015.

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• I've been writing forever, 20 years.

  Mat Johnson

  Writing, Years, Forever

  "'Morrissey's hair, bongs made of apples, MTV's 120 Minutes': Inside this month's hottest new books". Interview with Teddy Wayne, www.salon.com. May 20, 2015.

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