Jacob Szymanski

Like, where did this book come from for you?

Things have been pondering for years.

Now, I gave a super quick description of what the book is, but I'd like to hear it in your words.

When people ask you, what is this book about?

What do you tell them?

And you talk about the character you performed in your teens and even before that.

And this was one of the most interesting parts of the book to me because how that character presented himself depended on who was around.

And these two lines from the book say it pretty directly.

I wanted the police to see a respectable, harmless black man.

I wanted any black men I encountered on the subway to view me as dangerous.

Can you elaborate on what you meant by character?

Because character is a strong word, right?

Like you're not just saying you were influenced by the people and things around you.

Using the word character implies that you weren't being yourself.

Is that what happened?

depending on the situation right and in that example that you gave walking in front of the police station the key word is subconscious you did it yeah perfunctory it was a perfunctory action what

informs that character?

What is it that created that character?

That's a big question.

And those adjustments that you made to your character when you were younger, you're saying it's a response to things that happened to you when you were younger.