Episode 25 --- James McBride
Photo Credit: Chia Messina
It's been a long time, but we're finally back. The show returns this week with National Book Award winner James McBride. We caught up with him at the Miami Book Fair where he promoted his new short story collection, Five-Carat Soul.
This collection of 15 stories covers a lot of ground and features settings as diverse as a World War II battlefield, a low-income black neighborhood in Pennsylvania during the Vietnam War and even the gates of hell.
James, who is also a musician and a former journalist, navigates through these tales like the master storyteller he is, and there's never a dull moment. All of the stories feel fresh, and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested as a reader.
Interview Highlights...
James reveals...
- Why he can tell if an author has it after only reading one page
- How his journalism career helped to prepare him for his career as a novelist
- Why he doesn't spend much time thinking about popular or critically acclaimed books that aren't very good
Click here to listen to the podcast.
We have a free, signed copy of Five-Carat Soul to give away. It will go to the first listener to tell us the jazz musician James calls a pure improviser and compares to novelist Toni Morrison. You can contact us through Facebook (just search for ReadMore podcast) or through Twitter (@ReadMorePodcast) to provide the answer.
If you and I ever stood side-by-side in Women's Glee Club at UNC, you're probably ineligible. ReadMore does not have a friends and family plan! But we'll always have Hark the Sound.
You can also support ReadMore when you buy this book from Amazon.com using the link below:
Five-Carat Soul