Kill 'Em and Leave

February 8, 2016
McBride, mainly known for his bestselling 1995 memoir, The Color of Water, returns to nonfiction with an investigation into the life, times, and death of James Brown, the “hardest-working man in show business.” Though the soul singer’s musical legacy is ingrained in the collective American unconscious, many details about Brown’s personal life and the lives he touched along the way remain obscure. McBride reveals them while seeking to correct misconceptions perpetuated by the recent film Get On Up. Most notable among McBride’s tales are those involving Al Sharpton, whom Brown unofficially adopted; the relationship shines a light on both men’s lives that is often overlooked. Chasing down Brown’s life story all over the South, McBride enters some shady situations and stumbles on a story even larger than the Godfather of Soul himself: the fate of Brown’s estate, which has been so preyed upon by various lawyers that the poverty-stricken children for which it was meant haven’t seen a dime. McBride’s storytelling is heavily impeded by clichés and trite metaphors, but the power of his subject matter nevertheless shines through in this solid work of journalism. Agent: Flip Brophy, Sterling Lord.

February 15, 2016
National Book Award winner McBride (The Good Lord Bird, 2013, etc.) dissects the career, legacy, and myth of the Godfather of Soul. One of the most iconic figures in pop music, James Brown (1933-2006) is also one of the most unknown and falsely represented figures in American cultural history. Taking the recent biopic based on his life as an example, McBride shows how Brown's late-career downward spiral into drug abuse, erratic behavior, and jail time is exaggerated and how it overshadows his legacy as a hardworking and dedicated singer who was a positive cultural force. Part of this misrepresentation was caused by the mystery of Brown, which he perpetuated during his lifetime. As the author points out, Brown was constantly on the run from himself, careful never to reveal too much of his personality in public or private. As Brown put it to his young protege Al Sharpton, "come important and leave important." McBride traces Brown's philosophy of "keeping 'em guessing" through his upbringing in rural South Carolina and Georgia and back to a telling myth of a local ancestor. As the author sums it up: "you can't understand Brown without understanding that the land that produced him is the land of masks." Anecdotes and digressions are the preferred narrative mode for McBride, as he eschews an overarching, linear structure in favor of the rhythm of vignettes. Through his adventures to uncover the "real" Brown, there is significantly little discussion of Brown's musical career; instead, the author focuses on the people around him and the defining moments of his life outside the spotlight. But for McBride, the story of Brown is the story of money and greed--not on Brown's part, who put his $100 million estate toward the education of poor children, but of his heirs and family members who have tied up that money in years of litigation. An unconventional and fascinating portrait of Soul Brother No. 1 and the significance of his rise and fall in American culture.

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November 1, 2015

National Book Award-winning novelist McBride's first nonfiction book since his memoir, The Color of Water, is about James Brown--the man, myth, the legend.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2016
Sax player and acclaimed author of The Good Lord Bird (2013) and The Color of Water (1996), McBride here tackles the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Whether in Augusta, Georgia, or his real hometown across the river, Barnwell, South Carolina, James Brown is remembered, but remembered differently, by whites and blacks, Hollywood and the people, academic and street historians, and by McBride. This is a superb biography, subtle and sharply attuned to the southern context of Brown's life and music. McBride deciphers Brown's grip on black culture perceptively, and he offers a detailed explanation of the singer's very complex family tree and the genealogy of the Famous Flames, the R&B group with which Brown launched his career. He also provides equally perceptive analysis of Brown's enigmatic decline as disco and rap ascended. The narrative features (and uses as a source) commentary from Brown's most successful follower, Al Sharpton, who was much influenced by Brown, with whom he often traveled. Finally, McBride parses, as few have done, Brown's will. A very powerful book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Starred review from July 4, 2016
McBride embarks on a biographical journey to explore the life of the hardest-working man in show business, even though the National Book Award–winning author admits up front that Brown remains a figure so enigmatic that newly discovered facts make the established public history more—rather than less—difficult to understand. McBride views the “Godfather of Soul” as an icon who embodies all the complexities and contradictions of American life. Veteran stage and screen actor Hoffman doesn’t miss a beat in presenting the dialogue, such that Brown’s larger-than-life raspy voice comes through with those same complexities and contradictions. Hoffman seems determined to get it right and ditch affected parodies and caricatures as a narrator, in the same manner that McBride seeks clarity in his writing. Hoffman particularly excels in his display of Brown—for all of his failed relationships and emotional demons—as an avuncular wise elder in the grooming of close friend and advisor Rev. Al Sharpton and in Brown’s tender bond with the one grandson with whom he consistently remained close. Rendered in such skilled hands, the many Brown catchphrases—including the book’s title—take on a moving testament of survival rather than just remaining catchy aphorisms. A Random/Spiegel & Grau hardcover.

November 15, 2015

Following an offhand comment from the grandson of James Brown, the National Book Award-winning author of The Good Lord Bird headed down South to investigate the real meaning of Brown's life and music. Some triumphs: he talked to musicians in Brown's band (who have never gone on record before) and reports on the legal disputes that have blocked Brown's wish to fund the education of poor black and white children in Georgia.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2016

Accounts of James Brown's life (1933-2006) have been told many times, in many versions. He has been represented and misrepresented. Yet, there is always room for more. Memoirist (The Color of Water) and novelist (The Good Lord Bird) McBride deftly includes his own life experiences, while digging deep into sources and places that surrounded the Godfather of Soul. Stories are conveyed with care and humor, depicting folks with warm hearts, including musicians in his band, his first wife and other family members, best friend, longtime manager, the funeral director of the home where his body lay, and "adopted son" Rev. Al Sharpton. South Carolina and Georgia, where the singer was born and raised respectively, come across as integral characters. Included is information about the entanglements that are tying up his estate, as is the heartbreaking message that the Soul Brother No. 1 was in many ways quite lonely. VERDICT This recommended work would be a wonderful companion to a full-blown Brown biography, such as Nelson George's James Brown Reader, along with the other 12 titles "on deck" that McBride mentions. [See Prepub Alert, 10/19/15.]--Lani Smith, Ohone Coll. Lib., Fremont, CA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.