The Good Lord Bird

A Novel

By: James McBride

Narrated by: Michael Boatman

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

Soon to be a Showtime limited series starring Ethan Hawke and Daveed Diggs.

From the best-selling author of Deacon King Kong (an Oprah Book Club pick) and The Color of Water comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade - and who must pass as a girl to survive. Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1856 - a battleground between anti - and pro-slavery forces - when legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives. When an argument between Brown and Henry's master turns violent, Henry is forced to leave town - along with Brown, who believes Henry to be a girl and his good luck charm. Over the ensuing months, Henry, whom Brown nicknames Little Onion, conceals his true identity to stay alive. Eventually Brown sweeps him into the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 - one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride's meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.

©2013 James McBride (P)2013 Penguin Audiobooks

What an adventure!

This book knocked my socks off. I can understand why it won the National book award. The character development, the story emersion, the plot, the humor, the history and the staunch reality of slavery and abolitionist — all of it resonated with purity and genuine saturation of culture, time period, vernacular and that is rare to find in literary fiction.

History of this famous abolitionist

The narration was awesome! It brought a whole new perspective of John Brown and explained how the whole siege at Harper’s Ferry came about, loved this book!

Superb!

This is my favorite book on audio so far. So colorful and entertaining.. Full of drama, humor, pathos and history. Michael Boatman should have been paid double for his incredible narration.

The ending was a bit of surprise in a satisfying way.

The characters were well rounded and real. Just normal for the times and relatable. Well worth the read

Excellent narration

James McBride has more clever sayings in this book than you can shake a stick at. Narrator is wonderful. I loved it.

An Interesting Re-Telling of a Little Known Man

This is a quaint historical novel about the abolitionist John Brown, who's deeds and follies set the stage for the American Civil War. At first, I had a hard time listening to the chortling of "The Onion" a 10 to 12 year-old boy who was put into a dress and apparently lived as a woman for 17 years. After a couple of hours, I got into the voice...and the book is quite hysterical in some areas. I had to look it up to see if John Roberts was a real person or not, just because his escapades seemed so unrealistic. But, John Roberts did live, although I doubt the boy/girl nicknamed "The Onion" is a real person. But Onion is the perfect vehicle for telling this story. He is a child whom everyone treats as a girl, and for that reason, he could get into places and do things that a boy could not have been able to.

I enjoyed this book because it was funny and the voice actor was really quite good...after I got used to the sound of his voice. Audible makes a mistake when reading the introduction, because you think it is going to sound like that the whole way though. They have done that with other books that I did not appreciate.

Through the eyes of The Onion (so nicknamed because John Roberts hands the kid this rotten/petrified onion he kept as a good luck charm, but The Onion doesn't understand why he has been given this hideous rotten piece of crap masquerading as an onion, so he eats it. Then John Roberts always protects him, proclaiming that "She's my lucky charm" (I guess because s/he ate the onion instead of putting it in his/her pocket).

There are lots of funny scenes where the kid's true identity is almost unmasked, but while reading the bible on evening on a porch in Virginia, the boy realizes that a body, male or female, black or white is simply a shell and who one is inside and the outer shell doesn't make a bit of difference. I was touched by that, and it is true, IMO.

I don't like to reveal much of a book's plot points or the way it ends....but I found it very enjoyable and would recommend it to anyone who likes a farcical historical novel. I read about it on the NPR's website and went straight to Audible and bought it and I'm glad I did. It is witty, not too gory and I quite enjoyed it. It's a bit like Tom Robbins meets Edward P. Jones to write about a part of American Slavery and one man's feverish desire (driven by the Lord!) to bring an end to slavery. Oh...and we get to meet Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman in a way that we have never met them before.

All and all, a very enjoyable read. I can see it as a movie...maybe directed by the Cohen Brothers....who would be perfect for the tone of the book.

Best book. Best adventure!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Good Lord Bird to be better than the print version?

I wouldn't know, but I liked the narrator for the audio edition.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Onion is the best character. Next best is Old John Brown. All in all I loved every character in the book.

What does Michael Boatman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Excitement of the journey. He opens up the comedy of the story. I was actually depressed when I started reading it, and I found myself laughing out loud at the stuff Onion and the Old Man got themselves into.

Who was the most memorable character of The Good Lord Bird and why?

John Brown, then Onion the unwilling transgender character.

Any additional comments?

Good story and funny, funny and funny!

Cinematic, hilarious and full with the stuffings of life. Snaking of a Twain meets Little big man gallows humor and not devoidJ.

Cinematic, hilarious and full with the stuffings of life. Snaking between Twains wit and Little big mans gallows humor, and not devoid of an ample heart. J.

One of the best audibles I heard.

I loved it, the narrator gave so much life to the story making it a joy to listen too.

Great story! Great narrator!

James Mcbride never disappoints. His wonderful story had me hooked from the start and Michael Boatman made the characters come alive! I will probably listen to again, just as I did with Deacon King Kong.