Colson Whitehead ran the table in 2016 with The Underground Railroad, a work of speculative historical fiction in which enslaved people use an actual railroad running under the South to escape to freedom.
The novel is one of only eight books to win both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. When Whitehead won the Pulitzer again in 2020 for The Nickel Boys, he joined an even more elite club, becoming one of just four authors to take home two Pulitzers. (William Faulkner, John Updike, and Booth Tarkington are the others.) Clocking in at #7 on the New York Times list of the 100 best books of the 21st century so far, The Underground Railroad is the newest book in the top 10.
Join us as we revisit the powerful novel that cemented Whitehead as the greatest living American novelist, and enjoy some bonus content about him and how the novel came to life.
It All Started in the Fourth Grade
When he learned about the Underground Railroad in the fourth grade, Colson Whitehead thought, like many a youngster has, that it was an actual railroad. The idea of crafting a story around that premise stayed with him, but it felt too intimidating to tackle for a long time. After workshopping the idea with his wife, his agent, his therapist, and his editor, he sat down to bring the idea to life in 2014.
Take This One to the Club
The Underground Railroad is an excellent book club pick (just as Oprah), and we have you covered with this set of questions and a reading guide.
Recommended Reading
If you’re new to Colson Whitehead, welcome! Here’s a reading pathway into his fascinating catalog. And if you want more books that remix real events, here’s a list of alternate history books to scratch that itch.
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