Oprah Winfrey has chosen Deacon King Kong by James McBride (Riverhead) as her new book club selection, CBS This Morning reported. Winfrey said: "In a moment when our country roils with righteous anger and grief, Deacon King Kong reminds us that when we come together as a community in compassion and empathy, our love triumphs.... I am hoping readers will find in it what I did: sorrow, joy, resilience, humanity, and an understanding that while we struggle with pain and trauma, we can find shelter in one another."
Upon learning of the selection, McBride said: "In a world that at times seems to be going mad, books are a source of reason and discourse--a pipeline to freedom. It's my job, as a writer, to believe in the good and the right. The belief that we have more in common than we are different has driven my career. I'm grateful to Oprah for the chance to share that view, through my book, with the members of Oprah's Book Club."