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The color of water : a Black man's tribute to his white mother / James McBride.
Publication details: New York, NY : Riverhead Books/Penguin Group, 2006.Edition: 1st Riverhead trade pbk. 10th anniversary edDescription: xix, 328 p. : ill. ; 21 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 159448192X (pbk.):
- 9781594481925 (pbk.)
- 1573220221 (alk. paper)
- F128.9.N4 M328 2006
Contents:
Summary: Writer and musician McBride recounts a telling conversation with his mother: "Am I Black or White?" "You're a human being. Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!" With the help of two remarkable African American husbands (James is the youngest of eight McBride kids; his father, Rev. Andrew McBride, died before he was born in 1957, and four more children were born during a second marriage), Ruthie Shilsky McBride Jordan infused her children with two values--a respect for education and religious belief. What makes this story inspiring is that she succeeded against strong odds--raising her family in all-black lower-income neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, where opportunities for her children to get into major trouble abounded; how she did this is what makes this memoir read like a very well-plotted novel. An orthodox Jew born in Poland and raised in the South, Ruthie's early life included her abusive father, an itinerant rabbi who ran a grocery store where he exploited his black customers; a caring but helpless mother crippled by polio, who spoke no English; and a hardscrabble childhood in rural Virginia, where she was shunned by whites and blacks alike, because she was a Jew and also for her father's business practices. McBride skillfully alternates chapters relating his life story and his coming to terms with his mixed ethnic and religious heritage with chapters conveying his mother's travails and her development into a fervent Baptist; the latter in her own voice. This moving and unforgettable memoir needs to be read by people of all colors and faiths. Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information
Dead -- The bicycle -- Kosher -- Black power -- The Old Testament -- The New Testament -- Sam -- Brothers and sisters -- Shul -- School -- Boys -- Daddy -- New York -- Chicken man -- Graduation -- Driving -- Lost in Harlem -- Lost in Delaware -- The promise -- Old man Shilsky -- A bird who flies -- A Jew discovered -- Dennis -- New brown -- Finding Ruthie.
| Item type | Current library | Home library | Shelving location | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Books
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American University in Dubai | American University in Dubai | Main Collection | F 128.9 .N4 M328 2006 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Copy Type:01 - Books | Available | 250405 |
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| F 128.55 .W54 2004 The colossus of New York : a city in thirteen parts / | F 128.57 .G58 S56 2005 The prince of the city : Giuliani, New York, and the genius of American life / | F 128.9 .A1 G55 1970 Beyond the melting pot; the Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, and Irish of New York City, | F 128.9 .N4 M328 2006 The color of water : a Black man's tribute to his white mother / | F 144 .A8 J65 2010 Boardwalk empire : the birth, high times, and corruption of Atlantic City / | F 144 .N6 H27 1967 Rebellion in Newark; Official violence and ghetto response | F 158.54 .R46 B57 1999 A prayer for the city / |
Originally published: 1997.
Dead -- The bicycle -- Kosher -- Black power -- The Old Testament -- The New Testament -- Sam -- Brothers and sisters -- Shul -- School -- Boys -- Daddy -- New York -- Chicken man -- Graduation -- Driving -- Lost in Harlem -- Lost in Delaware -- The promise -- Old man Shilsky -- A bird who flies -- A Jew discovered -- Dennis -- New brown -- Finding Ruthie.
Writer and musician McBride recounts a telling conversation with his mother: "Am I Black or White?" "You're a human being. Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!" With the help of two remarkable African American husbands (James is the youngest of eight McBride kids; his father, Rev. Andrew McBride, died before he was born in 1957, and four more children were born during a second marriage), Ruthie Shilsky McBride Jordan infused her children with two values--a respect for education and religious belief. What makes this story inspiring is that she succeeded against strong odds--raising her family in all-black lower-income neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, where opportunities for her children to get into major trouble abounded; how she did this is what makes this memoir read like a very well-plotted novel. An orthodox Jew born in Poland and raised in the South, Ruthie's early life included her abusive father, an itinerant rabbi who ran a grocery store where he exploited his black customers; a caring but helpless mother crippled by polio, who spoke no English; and a hardscrabble childhood in rural Virginia, where she was shunned by whites and blacks alike, because she was a Jew and also for her father's business practices. McBride skillfully alternates chapters relating his life story and his coming to terms with his mixed ethnic and religious heritage with chapters conveying his mother's travails and her development into a fervent Baptist; the latter in her own voice. This moving and unforgettable memoir needs to be read by people of all colors and faiths. Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information
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