People are very comfortable when race relations get looked at retrospectively. Slavery, the civil rights movement, etc.

It's so hard to say what you really mean. For any number of reasons: to protect yourself, or if you just can't find the words.

I'm healthier in California, probably a little happier, maybe.

If New York is the City That Never Sleeps, then Los Angeles is the City That's Always Passed Out on the Couch.

In The Sellout I tried to capture how we can talk and see race, how we see urbanity, and how we see our history.

Sometimes I would get frustrated, I'd think, "You know, this is a good book, how come no one is paying attention to it?" So it's nice to have some recognition.

If I'm in LA, I'm close to home, and that just brings up all these other things, good and bad. There is a reason why I am not there. That's what I have to remind myself of. But I'm healthier in California, probably a little happier, maybe. I forget how beautiful and calm California is. It's not so much about the place, but also the age that I came to the place and, well, other things. New York is hard.