:22:02
Either you've been blessed with a rare
gift that has suddenly kicked in...
:22:07
...or...
:22:10
...you're getting your inspiration
from elsewhere.
:22:14
Given your previous education
and your background...
:22:18
...l'm sure you'll forgive me
for reaching my own conclusions.
:22:21
l wrote those papers, man.
:22:23
Then you won't mind showing me.
:22:27
The next assignment
is due in two weeks.
:22:29
l'll schedule some time
for you to come to my office.
:22:34
l'd like you to write it there.
:22:38
ln the meantime, if there's anything
you wish to talk about....
:22:44
l'm not writing anything, man.
:22:47
Which proves what?
:22:49
lf a two-comma kid wrote the papers,
would he use this ''background'' shit?
:22:53
-Two-comma kid?
-A million dollars.
:22:55
-One comma, two commas.
-No.
:22:57
No, l don't.
:22:59
Do you know what people
are most afraid of?
:23:03
-What?
-What they don't understand.
:23:06
When we don't understand,
we turn to our assumptions.
:23:11
Crawford cannot understand...
:23:12
...how a black kid from the Bronx
can write the way you do.
:23:16
So he assumes you can't.
:23:20
Just like l assume he's an asshole.
:23:23
You knew him, didn't you?
:23:25
Crawford?
:23:26
No.
:23:29
But he thought he knew me.
:23:30
So what's all this stuff
about his book?
:23:33
A lot of writers know
the rules about writing...
:23:37
-...but don't know how to write.
-So?
:23:39
So Crawford wrote a book
about four authors who did know.
:23:43
And l was the only one still alive.
:23:46
-And?
-He convinced a publisher to buy it.
:23:50
So l made a polite telephone call...
:23:54
...to this publisher,
telling him and others...
:23:57
...that l was in the process
of writing a second book.