'In the real world, villains too often succeed and heroes, too often die,' says National Book Award-winning author James McBride. 'In novels, you can move matters around ... you get to show the best side of people.'
I still work in my old housing project in Brooklyn. I run a music program there. I'm there every week. And I must say ... I admire my students and their mothers, and in some cases their fathers, and in some cases the cousins who are raising them. These are my heroes. And so I wrote a book about my heroes, really.How many of us know that that drunk who ... gets drunk at 20 and dies at 80? ... I've known many like him over the course of my life. He's ... lovable, good natured.
King Kong [in the title] is a homebrew, a rotgut kind of drink — joy juice, booze — that Sport Coat enjoys drinking. So his nickname is ... Deacon King Kong.I've been to church a lot in my life. And it was a pleasure to be able to create or recreate a black church that's funny and not ... you know, just the stupid stereotypical jokes. But a place where there's a lot of heart, a lot of fun, a lot of forgiveness.
I force my students to write in longhand every week. Double space. No computers. ... Because you edit in your mind when you write in longhand.I tell them that a simple story is the best story, and that time and place is really crucial to good storytelling. Establish your stories in a specific time and place and get your characters set solidly within that framework before you let them start moving from one room to the next. And that's not as easy as it sounds. ...
I force my students to write in longhand every week. Double space. No computers. ... Because you edit in your mind when you write in longhand. ... You have to really shape your characters properly.When I was a kid, my mother told me about the time my sister got lost at the circus in New York in Madison Square Garden. ... She said out of the throng of people, suddenly after looking for a long time, she said a cop just appeared and he was holding my sister's hand — she was a little girl.
Sophia Boyd and D. Parvaz produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Beth Novey adapted it for the Web.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Can Syria’s ‘humanitarian horror story’ be solved?The Syrian civil war has created a humanitarian crisis that has overwhelmed aid groups and lead to warnings of a possible catastrophe. Can the situation be solved?
Read more »
‘Facebook: The Inside Story’ Review: The Path to DominationFrom WSJbooks: Is Facebook making the world a better place, as the company contends, or is it doing harm, by addicting us to manipulative clickbait and amplifying poisonous voices? As StevenLevy explains in “Facebook: The Inside Story,” it’s complicated.
Read more »
An Australian legend may be the world’s oldest datable storyA group of indigenous people in Australia have been telling a tale (almost) as old as time
Read more »
The Trump-Bloomberg New York Story: Public Warmth, Private DisdainFor years, the two billionaires coexisted peacefully in New York City, trading pleasantries in public and keeping ill feelings private. Now, ahead of Super Tuesday, when Michael Bloomberg faces voters for the first time, it’s Mini Mike vs. Carnival Barking Clown.
Read more »
How 'All the Bright Places' Author Used Her Personal Story to Offer Hope for Young ReadersNew York Times bestselling author Jennifer Niven discusses the Netflix adaptation of her 2015 novel, tackling serious tropes for young readers and that 'sick lit' book trend.
Read more »