It's great to hear from blog readers and even a comment on a post can make my day. So when I received this review by BA, focusing on THE GOOD LORD BIRD by James McBride, (a book I did not love).....I thought this was worth posting. Of course the National Book Award paid no attention to my opinion and crowned THE GOOD LORD BOOK its winner for 2013.
Here are BA's Comments
"With its rollicking, picaresque voice, this novel is a perfect companion to Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead". One a hoot, one a meditation, both apply themselves to John Brown; to Lawrence, Kansas and the Free State movement; to abolishment; to fathers and sons; to respect for the individual; and to the price we pay for our beliefs.
But while "Gilead" is a somber, sober affair--a masterpiece of restraint in true Robinson style---THE GOOD LORD BIRD is an explosion of dialect, prayer, mistaken identity, and buffoonery, and, most critically, an inventive, captivating point-of-view.
"Onion" is our narrator, and just trying to explain the mixup in gender and how this youngster comes to view the impassioned, prayerful savior of slaves known as John Brown would lead this reviewer into renewed gales of laughter, following by an asthmatic coughing fit.
Suffice it to say that in my opinion, we have witnessed the birth of a modern classic, and I suspect that it will soon appear on the required reading list of every (enlightened) high school in America."
MORE INFORMATION
http://www.jamesmcbride.com/
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