"You can't be a novelist, you can't be a creative person, if you are so cynical about the world that everything you say and write is negative," says novelist James McBride. He won the 2013 National Book Award for his novel The Good Lord Bird. Chia Messina/Courtesy of Riverhead hide caption
"You can't be a novelist, you can't be a creative person, if you are so cynical about the world that everything you say and write is negative," says novelist James McBride. He won the 2013 National Book Award for his novel The Good Lord Bird. Chia Messina/Courtesy of Riverhead hide caption