Im talking with David Steinberger about a companion book to knowing your value which is my second book which is great for women. Were looking for a knowing your value millennial edition. So hopefully, ill be back next year. Ladies and gentlemen, mika bear zip sky. Good evening. Hows everyone tonight . The beautiful. Im Mika Brzezinski, cohost of morning joe, and im deeply honored to be here tonight. Im also very excited to say this to you uninterrupted. Welcome to the 64th National Book awards. I got through it. Its the oscars of the book world, or as Fran Leibowitz once called them, the oscars without money. But well take em. [laughter] so i have a very close connection to this evenings awards. Just last month we had the honor of having David Steinberger, the chairman of the National Book foundation, on our show, on morning joe, to announce the National Book foundation finalists. As a threetime author myself, i know firsthand what an incredible undertaking it is to write a book and the nightmare scenario that it poses on members of the family. [laughter] im so impressed by all tonights honorees. Nominees. So on morning joe were very proud to give authors the platform be to discuss their work withs and the morning joe book pounce bounce which is fantastic on amazon. Weve even started a book club for nonfiction reading, and we hope to have a lot of the finalists on the show very soon. As we gatt gather this year, this is a lot of news and seclation in the book world. Random house and penguin american merged this year, and when they did, there was a lot of hope especially in the alternative rock world that the new company would be called random penguins. [laughter] they decided to call it Penguin Random house, but looking around the room ive seen a lot of writers stuffed in these tuxedos, and they maybe should have called it random penguins. [laughter] just saying. You look handsome. The giants of the digital book industry are here tonight, barnes and noble, amazon, cobo, apple. And its been another banner year for tingal books digital books with the exception of any ebooks that had to be downloaded from healthcare. Gov. [laughter] low blow. In fact, while im at it, i just heard that president obama was shopping a new book called how to work with congress, and it will be eligible for next years fiction category. [laughter] it hurts so badly. [laughter] but were here tonight to celebrate writers and realizers and every one of you in the industry who bring them together and the excellent work that you all do. As a reader and a writer, i applaud all your hard work whether its books on paper or anything else, books still make the world interesting and exciting and and wonderful, and where would our world be without them . So since this is an awards program celebrating the best books of the year, lets move right on into it. I come from the world of morning joe, but morning joe is not here, so were going to be on time tonight. Were not going to be interrupted, and were not going to go long. I have to be up at three a. M. , so ill be at the forefront of this. Lets begin. So to present the literarian award for outstanding to the American Literary community, we have tonight Toni Morrison. [cheers and applause] Toni Morrison needs no introduction. Ill try this. One of the greatest novelists in american history, winner of the nobel prize in literature, recipient of the president ial medal of freedom, recipient of the National Book foundations medal for distinguished contribution to american letters and host of other honors, a host of other honors. It gives me great pleasure to welcome Toni Morrison. [applause] thank you. Did you see me walk . You dont appreciate it, because you havent been in a wheelchair like i have for a long time. But this is important to me, and i am really delighted. Its great, and its a personal pleasure to honor a friend, an artist and a legend. When i sat down to to gatt err my thoughts gather my thoughts about what i could say about maya angelou, the first one was the fact that in spite of her truly outrageous talents, she doesnt summon envy, that routine jealousy and putdown that artists as famous as she are accustomed to. Instead, maya angelou inspires delight as well as awe. Her reputation sparkles well gans, generosity with elegance, generosity, humor, strength, clean honesty, compassion, and dare i say wisdom. My son died one christmas, and the very first nonfamily voice i heard on the phone was maya. With that unmistakeable voice of sheer [inaudible] i cant omit the pleasure of her company. With so much toxicity around in this world, a celebratory social life she offers her friends and colleagues is a blessing. And trust me, maya can cook. [laughter] i knew her at random house where she published her first book, i know why the caged bird sings. The autobiography was immensely popular, of course, but more than that it had breadth and meaning, and i dont recall any woman writer more insightful or more courageous describing her life. And equally important, it gave license to a host of other africanamerican writers. It opened the door to our inside, our interior minus the white gaze or sanction. Interestingly, its publication in 1969 neither began nor completed mayas work. Just think of this as a curriculum vista; journalist writing for the arab observer andgy nay yang times in 1960, 1961. Playwright, screenwriter, film director this 1960, 1966, 1967, 1978 76. Activist, coordinator at the request of Martin Luther king for sclc, 19d 68. Cooperation with malcolm x to build the organization for africanamerican unity in 1964. Actress, roots, 1977. Poetic justice, 1993. The blacks, 1960. Narrater, writer of documentaries, 68, 72, 75, 76, 82. 1980, dancer, singer, dancing with alvin [inaudible] student of pearl rye miss, 1954 and 58. Yes, author of eight biographies, 1969 to this year, to 13. Poet, ten collections of poetry. 1971, 1995. Professor, Wake Forest University reynolds professor of american studies. I left out much. Childrens stories, essays, recordings and albums. But anyone or two of these accomplishments could account for the esteem in which maya angelou is held. But all of them, the list is truly humbling. In spite of a childhood of wounds and obstacles that would break or paralyze many of us, suffering energized and strengthened her. And along with good counsel, determination and resistance, her creative impulse struck like bolts of lightning. Her example is not one of survival, it truly is one of triumph. Dr. Maya angelou, you improve our world by drawing from us, forcing from us our better selves. Thank you. [applause] [applause] old folks say it takes one to know one. [laughter] thank you, my diamond. To see Tony MorrisonToni Morrison greet me, its a blessing. She is a blessing, and its amazing. We have been sister friends all of these years, and im grateful for it. I though that, in truth, it takes one to know one. And im grateful. I know that toni is all of that, and i know that you are, all of you literary folks, amazing. I mean, amazing that youve chosen to give me a gift, an honorary i mean, to honor me. And im so pleased. Its amazing. I know that youre all writers, and im delighted that youve chosen to not only honor me, but to ask ms. Toni morrison to honor me and honor you. And thats who you are. Theres an old statement, an old statement that says when it looked like the sun would not shine anymore, god put a rainbow in the clouds amazing. [cheers and applause] amazing. The statement was inspired by a statement in genesis. It says that rain has persisted so unrelentingly that people thought it would never cease. So in an attempt to put the people at ease, god put a rainbow in the sky. Thats in genesis. But in the 20th century im sorry, 19th century, some africanamerican poet, maybe a woman with im not sure about that, but [laughter] she said, no, god didnt just put a rainbow in the sky, god put a rainbow in the clouds. In the clouds. We know that suns and moons and stars and all sorts of illuminations are always this ie sky, in the illumination. However, clouds can so persist that people cant see a change in the possibility of in the sky, in the clouds. And here we are. Here you are. Amazing. You are rainbows in my clouds. Its a blessing that you have decided to be a rainbow in my cloud, that you have decided to whether i deserved it or not [laughter] you have decided to honor me, ask im grateful to you. Im grateful to Toni Morrison. Im grateful to bob loomis, my editor [applause] for over 40 years, other 40 years over 40 years, imagine it, i have tried to tell the truth as i understand it in prose. Amazingly. I dont know. I know that theres a difficulty in trying to write prose. I know that you know all of that, and youre smarter than many of us here. I know that you know all of that. However, theres a possibility that when you use a few nouns and pronouns and some incredible poetry you know what it means. Its very hard. I think you know that easy reading is damned hard writing. [laughter] but you know all of that, was you are literary folks, and you know that. And ive been trying to tell the truth as far as i understand it. Not i didnt try to tell everything i know [laughter] but ive tried to tell the truth. And you have, you have honored me this evening. Im so grateful. Im so appreciative. My sons and daughters and some of them are black and white and asian and spanishspeaking and native american and fat and thin and pretty and plain [applause] you know . And gay and straight. But ive tried to tell the truth. So since you have honored me, i cant say enough to say thank you. And i thank you, i thank Toni Morrison, and i thank you for realizing how important she is and how important we are to each other. Seem live in direct people live in direct correlation to the heroes and sheroes they have, and i thank you for honoring me. Thank you. [applause] [applause] wow. And now to present the medal for distinguished contribution to american letters is victor nabaske. Hes one of american journalisms great treasures. Longtime editor and publisher of the nation, he is author of six books including the National Book awardwinning naming names. He is della court professor of magazines as columbia universitys graduate school of journalism, director of the george t. Della court center and chairman of the columbia journalism review. It gives me great pleasure to introduce victor. [applause] well, im floating on Maya Angelous cloud. I love offed that, what i just heard. And let me say when i was asked to introduce my good friend e. L. Doctorow this evening, i was honored to be asked and said yes because i have such admiration for his books, his plays and his other writings, his short stories. But on reflection, it has occurred to me that edgar has won more awards than are good for him. [laughter] among them, the National Book award, the saul bellow award for achievement in american function, a National Humanities medal bestowed by president clinton this 988 in 1988 and a gold medal bestowed by the American Academy of arts and letters. I thought that he should be home instead of spending his time going to evenings like this, he should be home writing his novels. And short stories better than the out accepting another award this evening that would divert him from his more important work. So that was my Second Thought after the first thought of being honored to introduce him. Then i remembered that nothing diverts him from his work with. His work. Once my wife annie and i took a vacation with edgar and helen, the love of him life whom he his life whom he calls captain tidy because she keeps cleaning up after him. [laughter] we went to some island in the caribbean. Those were the days before computers came along, so at six in the morning we would hear edgars typewriter clacking away. And i knew from the days when he worked as an editorinchief at dial press where his writers included among ore toes norman mailer, James Baldwin and William Kennedy that one should never call his home in new rochelle before six a. M. Not because you would wake up edgar, helen or one of their three extraordinary children, but because you would disturb him in the middle of his work. Because he put this two hours a day writing his novel before he took, got on the commuter train to new york. For his day job. And its not merely that as a writer he will always manage to find time to write, but that rather than put these awards in a fancy display case, when he does take time off from his own writing as often as not he uses his present prestigious celebrity to advance the cause of the artist in society. For example, when he testified before congress on behalf of the National Endowment for the arts, he eloquently told congress why it would be a big mistake to condition new grants on writers behaving themselves politically which congress as was then disposed to do. Here is just some of what he had to say. This is a quote from edgar testifying before congress. Any legislative condition put on an artists speech no matter how intemp rate or pod rate moderate, no matter how vague, no matter how intemp rate or moderate, no matter how vague or specific means you publish a dictionary with certain words deleted from the language. It means you lay out a pallete with certain colors struck from the spectrum. Do you really want to do this . Does congress in its wisdom really believe that keeping words and blacking them out and e racing portions erasing portions of the tape is what is needed to save this republic . Its bad not only for artists, its bad for us all. Now, you dont need me to talk to you about his extraordinary books and why they deserve this honor, this honor that hes receiving this evening. The book of daniel, rag time, homer and langley, each of which and his other works each of which is different from the last, not to mention the next book, andrews brain, which will, if you will use the expression, blow your mind. But i will mention his First Published fiction. It was called the beetle. Im not sure how old he was when he wrote it. It was inspired not by ringo sta and John Lennon Starr and john lennon, but rather by metamorphosis. I mention it only because when he was asked about it many years later, he described it to an interviewer with typical modesty and wry wit as an act of et my logical selfdefamation, the beetles, cough ca. You got it. [laughter] although this evening we celebrate edgars fiction, his stories, you should know that he went through Kenyan College where he majored in philosophy and studied with john ransom, the poet and new critic. This experience has not been lost on edgar. Dont take my word for it, but do read the essay he wrote for the nation called a citizen reads the constitution in which he considers this countrys fundamental document as a critic would a literary text. In this case, what he calls the sacred text of secular humanism, the constitution being the sacred text of secular humanism. A seems text. A seems text. A peoples text. I dont know what, if anything, edgar will have to say this evening, but i want to share with you the fact that some years ago when he was asked if he would introduce when i was asked just a minute. I want to say to to you that some years ago when he was asked by george columnton who interviewed him for one of paris reviews famous interviews, he was asked about he told the story about a befuld be led befuddled woman. He was interviewed at the 92nd street y, and a befuddled woman got up during the question period. Her first question for doctorow from the terror was what made you write about the firestorm at dress densome doctorow politely informed her that she probably had Kurt Vonneguts slaughterhouse five in hind and that the dresden firestorm had been done so beautiful beautifully, there was little reason for anyone else to try. The point here is doctorows attitude. It leaves one only origin alter story to explore original territory to explore which is what he has done with all his work. Hes been asked if he has a reader in mind when he sits down to write, and he has replied, no. Its just a matter of language, of living in sentences. Theres no room for a reader in your mind. You dont think of anything but the language youre in. Well, edgar, i have fuse news for you, you may not have us in mind, but youre in a room full of your grateful readers. Edgar . [applause] before coming here this evening, i thought to Say Something about what was lately on my mind, what is on all our minds whether we know it or not. Something that has swept through our lives and taken us up in ways that are useful and even spectacular, but also worrisome. And so ubiquitous and loomingly present in everything we do, the way we communicate and take care of ourselves and find things out and look to be entertained, well, that would have to be the internet. So to begin, i want to congratulate those shortlisted content providers here this evening [laughter] the world wild web was conceived worldwide web was conceived as a somewhat academic thing, but its years of Development Since the 80s have seemed to me the work of the moment. Coming into being as an astronomical event, a Virtual World as a companion planet in or orbital swing with our own. And its stuff, its substance not mountains and seas and deserts and mounting iceberg withs, but information, data, knowledge in every form of every kind transmitted for every purpose, personal, governmental, commercial, educational, political. It is a companion world mined to create wealth, to educate, the bring news, to spy, to save lives, to make war. But my odd sense of it is something exploded into being has to do with the population putting itself eagerly into its Arcane Service as immigrants swearing [inaudible] to a new world. The techieses, the programmers,