Maurice Sendak on The Colbert Report

Famed writer and illustrator of children’s literature, Maurice Sendak, appeared in a two-part segment on The Colbert Report this week. This is not a child-friendly interview, but adults will get a kick out of the ornery Sendak going head-to-head with Colbert in these videos.

Notable quotes

“There is something in this country that is so opposed to understanding the complexity of children. It’s quite amazing.”

“I don’t write for children. I write. And someone says, that’s for children.”

Colbert: “Why not do a Where the Wild Things Are sequel?” Sendak: “Because it is the most boring idea imaginable.”

Colbert: “What do you think of the current state of children’s literature?” Sendak: “Abysmal.”

“Most books for children are very bad.”

Sendak on books by celebrities: “Start by being an idiot … after that you know the formula.
All you need is a popular illustrator with a horrible sense of design, no taste for type, nothing about the aesthetics of what a picture book should look like.”

Sendak on e-books: “Fuck them is what I say, I hate those e-books. They can not be the future… they may well be… I will be dead, I won’t give a shit!”