American Fiction (2023) - Quotes

Family Dynamics and Unexpected Connections

Thelonious Monk Ellison: It's very kind of you to let them stay.

Maynard: It's always easier dealing with other people's families than your own.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: I regret to inform you that in a couple hours, this will be your family.

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Confronting Homophobia in Personal Relationships

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Who is that? What are you doing?

Clifford Ellison: I've taken a lover.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: You've taken a lover?

Clifford Ellison: You got a problem with that, homophobe?

Thelonious Monk Ellison: I'm not offended that you've taken a lover, Cliff. I'm offended, Cliff, that you call it taking a lover.

Clifford Ellison: Hmm. You can eat shit, nigga. I'm gonna take my lover right now.

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Critique of Authenticity in Storytelling

Sintara Golden: I don't need to write about my life. I write about what interests people.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: You write what interests white publishers fiending black trauma porn.

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Beyond Stereotypes: A Call for Complexity

Thelonious Monk Ellison: You're not fed up with it? Black people in poverty, black people rapping, black people are slaves, black people murdered by police, whole soaring narratives about black folks in dire circumstances who still manage to maintain their dignity before they die.I mean, I'm not saying these things aren't real, but we're also more than this. It's like so many writers like you can't envision us without some white boot on our necks.

Sintara Golden: [[Bret Easton Ellis; [Charles Bukowski] Do you get angry at ] or ] for writing about the downtrodden? Or is your ire reserved strictly for black women?

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Nobody reads Bukowski thinking his is the definitive white experience, but people... white people read your book and confine us to it. They think we're all like that.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Perceptions of Beauty and Self-Image

Lorraine: You look good, Mr. Monk.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: I look fat.

Lorraine: Aah, that's the California talking. I took you to Arkansas right now, you'd be a beauty queen.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: That's frightening.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Diverse Opinions on a Strong Expression

Ailene Hoover: I think it's "Fuck" for me.

Jon Daniel Sigmarsen: Yeah, me too.

Wilson Harnet: Yeah, I agree.

Sintara Golden: I disagree, I'm sorry.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: I think it would be a mistake to award this book anything.

Jon Daniel Sigmarsen: Well, it's 2 versus 3 so... "Fuck"'s the winner.

Ailene Hoover: [writing on board] Fuck" is the winner. You know, it's not just that it's so affecting, I just think it's essential to listen to Black voices right now.

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A Conversation Among Friends

Paula Baderman: [On a conference call] Hello?

Arthur: Hello Paula!

Paula Baderman: Arthur! So wonderful to hear from you. I hope you are with the man of the hour.

Arthur: I am indeed. He's right here next to me.

Paula Baderman: Mr. Leigh?

Thelonious Monk Ellison: [Speaking as the author "Stagg R. Leigh"] Uh, yeah, this is he.

Paula Baderman: [Surprised] Oh, really?

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Uh, uh, yeah, dammit!

Paula Baderman: [Relieved] Right.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Motherfucker!

Paula Baderman: Right, okay, um, yeah, I was a little confused at first.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Complexity of Respect and Hard Work

Ailene Hoover: People have worked hard on these books and we have to respect that.

Wilson Harnet: Hard work doesn't demand respect. People worked hard on the Third Reich.

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Embracing Diversity in Friendship

Agnes Ellison: I'm happy you're not white.

Coraline: Me too.

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Metaphors and Misunderstandings in Conversation

Arthur: [picks up 3 bottles of whiskey] Check this out.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: I don't care how drunk we get. I'm not selling it.

Arthur: That's not what I'm doing. Johnnie Walker Red. 24 bucks. johnnie Walker Black. 50 bucks. Johnnie Walker Blue. One hundred and sixty dollars. See the metaphor?

Thelonious Monk Ellison: No.

Arthur: These are all made by the same company. The red is shit. The black is less shit. The blue is good. But fewer people buy the blue because it's expensive. And at the end of the day, most people just want to get drunk. For most of your career, your books have been blue. They're good, complex. But they're not popular because most people want something easy. Now, for the first time, ever, you've written a red book. It's simple, prurient... it's not great literature, but it satisfies an urge. And that's valuable. What I'm trying to illustrate is that... just because you do red, doesn't mean you can't also do blue. You can do it all. Like Johnnie Walker. In fact, you got Johnnie Walker beat because, you don't even have to put your real name on it.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: [takes off glasses, head in his hands] Shesus. Do we drink now?

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Misunderstandings About Dressing for the Occasion

Arthur: What is this? I told you to dress street.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: I did!

Arthur: Fucking Sesame Street.

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Truth and Perception in Society

Arthur: This thing scares me.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Scares you? Why?

Arthur: Because white people think they want the truth, but they don't. They just want to feel absolved.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Well, fortunately, that's not my problem.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Seeking Clarity in a Confusing World

Arthur: [reading from "Fuck"] I be standing outside in the night, a police chopper go by and shine some lights in some backyards and I think, Shine that light on me, mo'fucka, shine me some fuckin light so I can see where the fuck I be at.'" Are you serious?

Thelonious Monk Ellison: You notice I didn't put my name on it.

Navigating Offensive Language in Literature Classes

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Listen. This is a class on the literature of the American South. we're going to encounter some archaic thoughts and coarse language, but we're all adults here and I think we can understand it within the context in which it's written.

Brittany: Well, I just find that word really offensive.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: With all due respect, Brittany, I got over it. I'm pretty sure you can too.

The Burden of Genius and Loneliness

Agnes Ellison: Your father was a genius. Geniuses are lonely because they can't connect with the rest of us. You're a genius, son.

Thelonious Monk Ellison: I certainly don't feel like one half the time.

The Value of Relating to Others

Coraline: [to Monk] One day maybe you'll learn that not being able to relate to other people isn't a badge of honor.

Embracing Love and Acceptance of Self

Arthur: People wanna love you, Monk. I personally don't know what they see in you, but they wanna love you. You should let them love all of you.

The Burden of Overthinking Everyday Tasks

Arthur: Imagine exploding your brain trying to think of a toilet paper commercial.

Hollywood's Reliance on Book Reports

Arthur: Nobody in Hollywood reads. They get their assistants to read things and then summarize them. The whole town runs on book reports.

Perception of Potential in American Fiction

Sintara Golden: Potential is what people see when they think what's in front of them isn't good enough.

Wealth Through Unconventional Behavior

Thelonious Monk Ellison: The dumber I behave, the richer I get.

Critique of Cultural Consumption and Identity

Thelonious Monk Ellison: My life is a disaster, but not in the way you'd think reading this shit. These things reduce us, and they do it over and over again because too many white people and people, apparently like you, devour this slop like pigs in a dumpster to stay current at fucking cocktail parties.

Choosing Honor Among Diverse Writers

Thelonious Monk Ellison: Let me say first, Carl, that I'm honored you'd choose me out of all the black writers you could go to out of fear of being called racist.