colson whitehead the underground railroad sparknotes

His favorite record isn't Martha and the Vandellas, Motown in the '60s but a recording of speeches by Martin Luther King. And where are those places? And what happens to the kids afterward? And immediately, I felt like I wanted to write about it. It dawned on me, if there's one place like this, there's dozens and dozens. And I think I was struck by the fact I'd never heard the place. SIMON: What did it set off in your mind to read these accounts of the Dozier School? And they finally ended up closing the place in 2011. As happens in places like this where people are unsupervised and there's a culture of impunity, there's a lot of abuse, physical, sexual. And after 18 months, they might be set on a better path. And the idea was that, instead of, you know, locking up kids with grown-up criminals, give them an education, have them do some work on a farm. They would take in orphans, wards of the state. And they would take in juvenile delinquents. WHITEHEAD: It was a reform school in Florida. SIMON: This novel is inspired creatively, at any rate, by a real place, the Dozier School. Thanks so much for being with us.ĬOLSON WHITEHEAD: Yeah.

And Colson Whitehead, author of 'The Underground Railroad,' which won just about every award in existence, and a book called 'The Noble Hustle,' the only good book about poker I've ever read, joins us in our studios in New York. SIMON: Elwood will see plenty of evil deeds during the course of Colson Whitehead's new novel, 'The Nickel Boys,' when he's sent to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, which turns out to be a house of horrors. And I'm happy that he didn't say like your enemies because it's pretty difficult to like some people. And I think this is what Jesus meant when he said love your enemies. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR: He loves a person and hates the evil deed. His most treasured possession is a recording of speeches by Dr. Elwood Curtis is a brilliant and earnest young African American man growing up in Florida during the civil rights movement.

Colson whitehead the underground railroad sparknotes