“Inside the late-night denizens, the midnight refuse, slouched over java and racing forms, tuna on stale rye and their doomed itineraries. No one look at anyone else in this crumbling sanctuary: that would risk the perfection of their isolation, their one last comfort in this concrete city.”
The debut of one of America's finest novelists, "The Intuitionist" features the strong, subtle writing that would come to be the hallmark of Colson Whitehead's career.
“Time to sift the facts through her fingers and shake out the fine silt until what is left in her hand is what happened.”
Using the pursuit of the ideal elevator as a racial allegory, the author weaves a compelling story that spans noir, suspense, humor, and drama.
“They can turn rabid at any second; this is the true result of gathering integration; the replacement of sure violence with deferred sure violence.”
Whitehead's rendering of a moment in a dime-a-dance club makes for a truly beautiful scene, offsetting a rather odd one-night stand midway through the book.
“The men think, this is the last night on earth and I am spending it in the arms of a beautiful woman. The women are not necessarily beautiful, but anything is possible. The women count dimes, ponder the bills waiting on top of the icebox. The bills are gratified a dime at a time, steadily.”
His wide cast of characters can be challenging to sort and place, but the result is an original tale that reveals a unique take on issues of identity and belonging.
“Anyone can start a religion. They just need the need of others.”
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