tonight, a conversation with james mcbride. him againhing up with as his novel recently won the prestigious national book award, the best novel of 2013, winning out over some other very impressive tomes. we are glad you have joined us. a conversation with novelist james mcbride, coming up right now. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: imagine a narrative full of irreverent humor and packed with larger-than-life adventures that's also a thought-provoking commentary on our collective history, as i think about it, with colorful characters, both real and imagined. you have a sense of what's in store for you when you read james mcbride's latest novel, "the good lord bird." it takes place in 1856 kansas, when that region was a battleground between pro-slavery forces and abolitionists, and features both john brown and frederick douglass. its hero is a runaway slave who hides his identity, pretending to be a girl. james mcbride, as always, good to have you on this program. >> well thank

tonight, a conversation with james mcbride. him againhing up with as his novel recently won the prestigious national book award, the best novel of 2013, winning out over some other very impressive tomes. we are glad you have joined us. a conversation with novelist james mcbride, coming up right now.

this is the third novel by james mcbride. he's also author of the bestselling memoir, "the color of water: a black man's tribute to his white mother." first, congratulations to you. >> thank you very much. >> so the story has been written and written about in nonfiction and fiction. you, what, felt you had something more to tell? >> well, i wanted to tell it in a funny way and i wanted people to, you know, know about them. and i wanted-- i tried to come up with a way to tell his story that was compelling and funny, i suppose. >> you use that word funny this say very funny book. about a very serious subject. i mean why did you want to put human near it,. >> well, slavery is such a drol subject. and it's depressing. i didn't want to write a book that was depression. i don't want to read a book that's depressing. so i just thought that shall did -- and john browne was so funny. i mean he wasn't funny, he actually had no sense of humor at all which made him perfect, the perfect person to make fun of. >> all those pictures of him

join me next time for a conversation with james mcbride. that's next time. we will see you then. ? ? ? >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ? >> be more. pbs. >>> tonight on "quest" -- they've been dead for almost 100 years. find out how these preserved animals are helping biologists understand the plight of their modern-day cousins. >>> and see why scientists in livermore are using 192 high-powered lasers to create conditions hotter than the surface of the sun. >>> and got two minutes? build your own self-contained biosphere. >>> major funding for quest is pr

cheers and applause] >> the winner of the national book award or 2013 is the good lord byrd by james mcbrideday. but i would like to say i was reading today a note to myself about what happened in may 2004, on long island, when he gave the commencement speech and he spoke out against the war. the kids there, they booed him. and iron emir sang to myself, somebody really ought to say something. summer got to do something about this. think about this man at 72 years old, having the specter of his life having lived through, seen, lived through and witnessed at least to some degree the holocaust in the '50s and '60s and the body of work and his desire to speak the truth and to serve as kind of the truth for us who are wordsmiths. and i really didn't do anything. and when i saw him speak tonight, i once again was reminded that we have a lot of work ahead of us. and i'm so proud to be part of a community that at least things like that. had rachel or thomas or george won tonight, i wouldn't have felt bad because they are fine writers. but it sure is nice to get it. [laughter] [applause] >> flip has