James McBride, Good Lord Bird

LynnDianne Beene (University of New Mexico)

Ed. by Cristina Sandru, The Literary Encyclopedia, Sofia Ahlberg, Uppsala University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

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First circulation or publication 2013

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United States (Country of Origin)

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Novel

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On 16 October 1859, fierce abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859) and 21 followers raided the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), as part of his strategy to mobilize enslaved people to revolt and destroy the institution of slavery in Maryland and Virginia. Local marshals and the U.S. Marines, led by Col. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), routed Brown’s commandos. Ten of Brown’s men died at the raid; five escaped; and seven, including Brown, were tried and executed. No black slaves or freemen survived the Harper’s Ferry insurrection.

With bawdy humor and satiric, incisive criticisms, The Good Lord Bird, by American writer and musician James McBride (b. 1957), retells Brown’s history from the Pottawatomie Massacres to the eve of his execution in the form of a fictional

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2246 words

Citation: Beene, LynnDianne. "Good Lord Bird". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 March 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41679, accessed 31 March 2025.]

James McBride, Good Lord Bird

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