I think there's two ways to answer one is about the craft of it and then there's a sort of emotional answer both of which are relevant. You discover very early on doing a story like this you have to take such close notes about the very very first couple of days because I don't care what structure you use when you're writing. In Chinese people will find that in another language you're kind of innocent and a little bit childlike and I think that can work to one's advantage.
Evan Osnos is a staff writer for The New Yorker. His new book is Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury.
“I'm always trying to get inside a subculture. That's the thing that I think has been the most enduring, attractive element for me. Is there a world that has its own manners and vocabulary and internal rhythms and status structure? And who looks down on whom? And why? And who venerates whom? Who's a big deal in these worlds? And if I can get into that, it doesn't even really matter to me that much what the subculture is. I'm fascinated by trying to map that thing out.”
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