James McBride is the author of the New York Times–bestselling Oprah’s
Book Club selection Deacon King Kong, the National Book Award–
winning The Good Lord Bird, the American classic The Color of Water, the
novels Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna, the story collection Five-
Carat Soul, and Kill ’Em and Leave, a biography of James Brown. The
recipient of a National Humanities Medal and an accomplished musician,
McBride is also a distinguished writer in residence at New York University.