On September 27, I had the pleasure of attending author James McBride’s talk at the Baltimore Book Festival. The SRO (standing room only) crowd proved that I’m not the only one in Maryland who is a big fan of Mr. McBride’s work.  After his talk, Mr. McBride headed north on Charles Street to the WYPR studios, where we had a chance to talk about his latest novel, Song Yet Sung.  Our interview will air on Tuesday morning, October 27, on Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast (88.1 FM), the day Mr. McBride begins his tour of the state talking about this terrific book.

I really enjoyed meeting Mr. McBride, and talking to him about this absorbing novel.  He and I are both musicians, and one of the things that I like about Song Yet Sung and The Color of Water, (a memoir he published in 1996) is that his writing “sings.”  He’s a very musical writer.  There’s a rhythm and flow to his prose that draws you in and keeps you fully engaged.

Song Yet Sung is a great tale.  It paints a vivid picture of life on the Eastern Shore in the 19th century, and it introduces us to some incredibly creative and courageous characters who will linger in memory for a long time.  It’s simply a great read, and I think it’s a perfect choice for this year’s One Maryland One Book.

Tags: Baltimore Book Festival, James McBride, Tom Hall

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.