247 Quotes by James McBride

My main problem with fiction is that once my characters get moving, you just have to follow them along and get out of the way of the story, but sometimes they pull me in too many directions, and I need to focus.

When you glorify violence, then it comes back to bite you.

I split my time between a small town in New Jersey and New York City.

There is a lot wrong with the church.

Most of my work is done when everyone else is asleep.

When I was coming up, a lot of serious jazz players couldn't stand funk.

I go through periods listening to specific types of music. Because I'm a musician, listening to music is... it's a bit like work for me. A little bit.

A lot of mixed-race stories are these navel-gazing, horrible accounts of mulatto tragedy.

I grew up in a house with a lot of kids, brothers and sisters. So I don't mind a lot of talking, yelling, playing. I can tune most of that out.