Colson Whitehead on "The Underground Railroad" & Poker

Macarthur Award-winning author Colson Whitehead's latest book, “The Underground Railroad,” was released August 2nd to widespread critical acclaim and recently named an Oprah’s Book Club Pick. The author, a former fellow at NYPL’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, came to the Library in 2015 to discuss his book “The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death,” which chronicles his experience as an amateur card player trying his hand at the World Series of Poker. In this conversation with NYPL’s Jessica Strand, Whitehead talks about what he learned about the human condition in Las Vegas—and discusses the early stages of writing what would become this year’s hit, “The Underground Railroad.”