FAQs: Ambiguity is the Answer

Now that Ambiguity is the Answer: Timeless Strategy for Creating Change is available, I figured I’d answer some questions.

It’s nothing too serious but I thought I’d give a peak behind the curtain. 

It probably feels nice to finish writing a book. Does it?

Absolutely! But, at least for me, it isn’t necessarily a feeling of relief. I’m not like “oh, thank god that’s over.” It feels more like wonder, to be honest. Wonder at the process. Wonder at having this beautiful book in my life and knowing everything that went into it. Mostly I sit in a lot of awe and appreciation for everybody whose work or feedback impacted the work in some way. It’s a wonderful feeling, for sure.

What’s something that surprised you about the process?

A small thing I enjoyed and didn’t expect, especially since I was doing so much research, was that I found myself reading a lot more poetry. (Thank you Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, and Ocean Vuong). But the biggest surprise was how great it felt to get the words on the page more and more aligned with what I wanted to say. It wasn’t in perfect tandem but growing as a person made my writing better, and getting better at writing made me grow as a person. That was a really unexpected and beautiful part of the process. 

It seems like you probably read a lot of books. What are some of your favorites?

Ambiguity is the Answer is the result of so many great books by other people. To be honest, I can’t believe I read so much. Some of my favorites, based on the amount of time I spend still thinking about them, include:

In the Break by Fred Moten, Harriet Tubman by Catherine Clinton, Perfect Spy by Larry Berman, Showdown by Will Haygood, If You Can’t Be Free, Be A Mystery by Farah Jasmine Griffin, The Power Broker by Robert Caro, Boyd by Robert Coram, The Half Has Never Been Told by Edward Baptist, Collision of Wills by Roger Gould, Poor People’s Movements by Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward, and Different by Youngme Moon. A late addition would be Several Short Sentences About Writing which I read at the perfect time in the editing process. 

Why write a book about ambiguity?

There are a number of reasons really. But the main one is that I wanted to try adding something meaningful and unique to the work people are doing to bring about change. This huge piece was missing from the conversation and I just became totally committed to laying it out in the most compelling and readable way I could. And I figured if I could make the stories memorable enough and the writing clear enough, it might just affect the conversation and help people move in new ways. That’s the real dream: that it helps people pull off things they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. 

How did you select the people and stories you included? Did you know about all of them before you started writing?

The short answer is that I definitely didn’t know about all the folks in the book before I started writing. But I do have a clear sense of how I decided who to include: I had to be able to have a unique angle on them and their inclusion had to be interesting whether you knew a lot about them or were just being introduced. And then I wanted the overall collection to cover a wide range of environments and experiences so the power of ambiguity would really come through. 

What’s even more exciting to me than who is included is how they’re included. So much of the book’s power, and what makes the lessons so strong, is in the unique juxtapositions. And the only way you can do that is by undertaking a range of study no one else has. So you end up seeing why it makes perfect sense that Lee Sedol and Cesar Chavez are juxtaposed. Or Billie Holiday and Tig Notaro. Or Frida Kahlo and Galileo. Or Muhammad Ali and Quinta Brunson. Finding those kinds of connections takes a lot of work but, as you read them, they should feel perfectly obvious. Unearthing those and making them work for the reader was one of the best feelings. 

What part are you most proud of?

I can open the book to any page and be proud of what’s on there. As a writer, that’s a dream.

The other day a friend I really respect who’s an emcee told me I had bars in the book and, I can’t lie, that felt pretty great too :) 

I still can’t believe you actually wrote a book! How can I help?

I appreciate you asking! I really want Ambiguity is the Answer to spread in a conversational, word-of-mouth sort of way so the best way to help is to buy a couple extra copies and share them with your friends or family. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll end up having new and interesting conversations as a result. You might’ve noticed the 3 book bundle is basically a buy 2, get 1 deal. That’s so it’s easy and affordable to grab a couple extras. If you have ideas for other ways you could be helpful, send me an email at Kyle@fallowpress.com

Ambiguity is the Answer: Timeless Strategy for Creating Change is available here.