mr. whitehead. quick question have you ever considered writing drama for media or cinema? >> guest: thank you. yeah i mean i went to harvard for undergrad and a very conservative department and made one class like american fiction after 1945 basically. i did study drama and they took classes in the african-american studies department in the drama department created i thank dialogue and the structure is very important to my work. and times when i viewed money i thought maybe if i write a screenplay i can just hang out in my house and get rest and shower. on the screenplay i get 30 pages in i'm like this. i know how to write a novel and so i end up going back to fiction but i grew up on tv and film in those mediums are very important to me. i've got a lot of ideas from stone from science fiction and so i was a tv critic for a wild but i can do fiction and nonfiction but i don't really have the chops to leave those to genre's. >> host: is mike bonin materialized? the >> guest: usually might looks have

mr. whitehead. i am enjoying the program.eems my question has been answered but i wanted to know who is one of your favorite authors and when did you know it would be a lifetime duty from going out to get her real nine to five job? >>host: we will get an answer to that in just a minute but what pride are inspired you which of his books have you read? >> larson has been one of my most inspirational writers and i am reading mr. whitehead's book now. the underground railroad. i'm presently reading it now and enjoying every bit of it. thank you. >>host: what do you do in spartanburg? >> actually i work for the hospital here. i am a nurse. >>host: thank you. >> the end of the book i hope it is not disappointing with those realistic short stories i guess early influences those like stephen king so basically what i wanted to do horror fiction writer science fiction writer. >> so what does the term magical realism mean to you? those are presented in the same register so giving marquez came up with it as a bigger practitioner listenin

mr. whitehead's books have you read?r: toni morrison has been one of my most inspirational writers. i'm reading mr. whitehead's right now, the underground railroad. i'm presently reading it now and i'm enjoying every bit of it. this has been a treat for me to see you on tv today, so thank you. >> host: ken, what do you do in spartanburg, south carolina? >> caller: i'm actually, i work for the hospital here. i'm a nurse. >> host: thank you, sir. >> guest: thanks for reading. i hope the end of the book is not disappointing. but i'm glad you are enjoying the first half of the book. so writers have inspired me, so many different folks. you can get something from raymond carver, a writer of realistic short stories. something from ralph ellison. i guess early influences was twilight zone and marvel comics and stephen king. before i got to college i wanted to write horror. i wanted to write like the black salem slot for the black shiny. if you took any stephen king title and put black in front of it that is basically what i wan

mr. whitehead, what is the appropriate response

mr. whitehead, what's the appropriate response when your books appraised by oprah,, president obama, human and the national book award, what is it appropriate response? >> guest: if only a took the painwa