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Man Booker winner Paul Beatty: I had teachers who told me to stop writing

 

You will never get a straight answer from this man. No matter how cleverly you might try to pose a question, odds are that he will go "...Aaahhhh, I don't quite know...".

He says he hates writing because it is hard. He hates labels and is all about the language behind the labels.

His last book took him five years and got him the Man Booker last year. Meet Paul Beatty. His latest book, The Sellout, has been widely appreciated and everyone wants to know what Beatty has to say.

You have to strain to hear him while you talk but despite everything you cannot help but acknowledge, "Damn! What a great guy!" - and we'll tell you why. It is because he is a wonderful conversationalist.

Speaking at his session at Zee Jaipur Literature Festival, Beatty revealed that he wrote The Sellout because he 'didn't have any money' and apparently once his editor read the book, he said, "You are really f*&#@!d up!"

He writes from a place of discomfort and points out that authors must write about what they are interested in, if they try to pander to the reader, the reader tends to see through it. And of course he has some strong opinions about Donald Trump.