Adam Mansbach

I came up in hip-hop, where people value the ability to tell it straight. ”

The goal has been not to get pigeonholed. I like working in different genres. I'm gonna try to be entertaining and funny and do my usual thing. ”

Being Jewish is a big part of my artistic sensibility and my humor... I think it gives me a certain take on the world on a literary level. ”

To be a white kid into hip-hop meant you'd sought it out and you practiced the art. Which meant dedication and diligence, as well as removing yourself at least occasionally from your own comfort zone and circumstances, and from people who looked like you. ”

Look closely, and you can see where the grooves of a record widen, indicating a sparseness that can only be a bass solo, or grow denser to accommodate a cresting density of sound. ”

Sometimes, it's best to let the kids take control - and it's never too early to instill positive eating habits or self-confidence in the kitchen. ”

When we talk about communities, we seldom discuss the margins. But for every person nestled comfortably in the bosom of a community, there is someone else on the outskirts, feeling ambivalent. Ambiguous. Excluded. Unwilling or unable to come more fully into the fold. ”

My mother is really the person I learned to curse from. She discourages me from saying that in interviews. But it's true. ”

We had a kid. The kid was awesome. She didn't fall asleep easily. We complained about it. We got frustrated. But we didn't look for an out. We just accepted that this was part of parenting. ”

It's hilarious to me that by writing an obscene fake children's book I am mistaken for a parenting expert. ”