25 Quotes by Beth Macy

I think of Harriet Muse as one fierce lady. She couldn't read. She had no education. She did labor her whole life. And she stood up to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey at a time where she was told where to work, where to sit, and she demanded that they pay attention to her.

I'm a unicorn in the world of journalism; I've stayed in the same mid-sized city, and that staying has allowed me to write two deeply-reported books.

You need time to build relationships with subjects to win their trust.

So many white people don't want to talk about race; it's uncomfortable. Many reason that slavery happened more than a century ago, and people alive today had nothing to do with it. But the particulars of these stories, from slavery to segregation to civil rights and mass incarceration, are at the marrow of life in America today.

The heart of 'Truevine' is about the travails of two strong black women who agitate to get justice for their family.

My favorite novel ever is Abraham Verghese's 'Cutting for Stone.' It takes you so many places. I stayed up to 4 in the morning to finish it.

My parents were really poor. We never bought books because you could go to the library. It would be stupid to buy one.