Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Biography, Literature & Literary studies
Weblink
www.jamesmcbride.com

FIVE-CARAT SOUL

James McBride

For readers of James McBride's award-winning novels and nonfiction, as well as readers of Junot Diaz, Colson Whitehead and Phil Klay: Exciting new fiction from James McBride, the first since his National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird.

The stories in Five-Carat Soul--none of them ever published before--spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. They're funny and poignant, insightful and unpredictable, imaginative and authentic--all told with McBride's unrivaled storytelling skill and meticulous eye for character and detail. McBride explores the ways we learn from the world and the people around us. An antiques dealer discovers that a legendary toy commissioned by Civil War General Robert E. Lee now sits in the home of a black minister in Queens. Five strangers find themselves thrown together and face unexpected judgment. An American president draws inspiration from a conversation he overhears in a stable. And members of The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band recount stories from their own messy and hilarious lives.

As McBride did in his National Book award-winning The Good Lord Bird and his bestselling The Color of Water, he writes with humor and insight about how we struggle to understand who we are in a world we don't fully comprehend. The result is a surprising, perceptive, and evocative collection of stories that is also a moving exploration of our human condition.

Awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Obama, James McBride is an accomplished musician and author of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, the #1 bestselling American classic The Color of Water, and the bestsellers Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna. He is also the author of Kill 'Em and Leave, a biography of James Brown. McBride is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

Available products
Book Published 2017-09-26 by Riverhead
Book Published 2017-09-26 by Riverhead

Comments

French: Editions Gallmeister

USA Today included FIVE-CARAT SOUL in their "New and Noteworthy" column.

Humming with invention and energy, the stories collected in McBride’s first fiction book since his National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird again affirm his storytelling gifts. Read more...

Electric Literature is live with their excerpt, and a very special intro from Riverhead-publicist Katie Freeman!: A Black Man's Murder Tears Apart aTown - Racial tensions rise in "Buck Boy," a new short story by JamesMcBride

LeVar Burton's new podcast, LeVar Burton Reads is now live with their narration of the short story GOAT from James McBride's new collection, FIVE-CARAT SOUL Read more...

If there's a mode in which McBride can't write brilliantly, he has yet to prove it.

The Christian Science Monitor named FIVE-CARAT SOUL one of the ten best books of September.

James discusses the importance of fiction, especially in this turbulent political climate, in an interview that ran in Washington Post: "The really interesting parts of life are the parts we are not witness to. Because the man who decides to shake his neighbor's hand, or help him cut the grass, they're the true heroes. Only with disasters like the one in Houston are we able to see our humanity. So these stories give me the room to breathe. Fiction offers some relief from the drudgery of sitting on the third rail of race, where most of us sit or avoid. Fiction allows us to dream. Without dreams what do you have? Fiction gives you real hope."

NPR offered a glowing review, calling the collection "a gem" and the stories "brash, daring and defiantly original."

National Book Award-winner James McBride delivers another unforgettable read with this collection of never-before-published short stories. Each told with McBride's trademark insight, eye for character, and masterful story-telling ability, these pieces are sure to knock you out.

FIVE-CARAT SOUL has been named a most-anticipated book of the fall by Entertainment Weekly, New York Magazine, BookPage, BBC.com, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, PopSugar, Bustle, The Millions and more.

An exceptional group of stories... This is McBride at his A-list best.

Stellar... McBride’s short stories joyfully abound with indelible characters whose personal philosophies are far wiser than their circumstances allow... [He] brings the snappy satire that endeared him to fans of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird and the courage and pathos that shone in The Miracle at St. Anna.

A versatile, illustrious author brings out his first short-fiction buffet for sampling, and the results are provocatively varied in taste and texture; sometimes piquant, other times zesty. Read more...