The Color of Water : A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (Cassette)

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Summary: The Color Of Water Book Review
Review: The Color Of Water is set in two different time periods, with two different characters but the problems that occur During their lives are similar. The book is attributed to James McBride's mother who grew up as a Jewish girl. Who went on to merry a black man and have black children. The story tells of James mothers childhood and James childhood growing up with a black mom.
This is a very dull book. I was hoping that the book would get exciting and there would be a huge ending. I was very disappointed in this book because of all the hype that it had.
On a good side, it was a very interesting topic of a white mom raising black children. He did a good job with the showing in the book.
The book was not what I expected from all the talk of how good it was. If I could recommend this book it would be to families that have dealt with racial issues or to older adults. I would not recommend this book to teens.

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Summary: Great Book
Review: "The Color of Water" is a well constructed book. The use of different voices is what caught my attention and contributed to my enjoyment of the book. I believe that without both the voices of the Mother and McBride himself you can not truly appreciate such an accomplished woman's story. Reading this book helps you to appreciate what is important in life.

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Summary: Amazing Grace
Review: This is the story of a Jewish white mother, actually the daughter of a rabbi, both parents having immigarated to America to avoid persecution in Europe. The family lives a bitter life, primarily due to the rabbi being "money hungry" and because of prejudice against the Jewish race. The daughter (the author's mother) is sexually abused by the rabbi. (Sexual abuse seems to be a requirement for book writing today). The young girl runs away from home and marries a wonderful black man, who starts a church in rural Virginia. He dies early on and she marries another wonderful black man, who provides well for his family which eventually consists of twelve children. He also dies and leaves this white mother to watch over her dozen black charges. The mother combats racism but in general lives with blacks. Sometimes they do not treat her too well because she is white. She survives and accomplishes a great deal by sending her twelve children thru college and they go on to become successful professionals. At 65 she, herself, also receives a college degree. The family always seems to be living in poverty - one room apartments with outdoor plumbing, etc. - and do not take to welfare to any extent. This surprises me. I would like very much to see their "balance sheet" when the kids are going to school without any financial assistance except for possible small scholarships. Thirteen mouths to feed without a substantial provider raises questions in my mind.
In general I thought the book was somewhat "fantastic" in places but undoubtedly this group of people survived very well under adverse conditions. Apparently the two wonderful black men's presence had a lot to do with keeping the family together and upright.

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Summary: Inspiration and Virtue
Review: The story of a black man and his "light-skinned" Jewish mother is a moving account of struggle, perseverance, and beating racism and prejudice. The family's home in the Brooklyn projects was most likely a hard place for a single white woman to raise her twelve black children. After the death of her first and second husbands she manages to raise her children while strictly protecting the family's privacy and put them all through college. Ruth was a strong woman and a wonderful mother, though she had her quirks, as does any parent. James, the story's author and narrator, tells of the toils and wonders of growing up in Brooklyn with his family and the transition from childhood to adulthood. He includes everything from riding the bus with his mother, Ruth, to school as a young boy, to his saxophone, to watching the other boys drag race through their neighborhood and his fear for the safety of his mother. Throughout all this, he enlightens his audience with the story of his mother as well. He shares her life growing up in a strict Jewish family with a Rabbi for a father. Born in Poland and raised in the south, fleeing to New York to marry a black man, and founding a Baptist church. The story is inspiring and thought provoking in the sense that it forces the reader to fall into the places of the characters while being engrossed in the story and teaches virtue and allows the reader to get a taste of what it might be like to grow up around racism and anti-trust outside of the family. It teaches the true meanings of what it means to be a family and to love, despite the differences in melanin and religion; that no matter if you're "light-skinned" or "dark-skinned" God has created all men as equals, as he is "the color of water".

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Summary: Inspiration
Review: This book was very inspiring...It helped me to change my life and how I live.

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Summary: The Entire Story Is Not Told
Review: By reading the summary on the back cover, The Color of Water sounds quite intriguing. However, when you start reading the book there are numerous questions which any reader canr aise and certainly plenty of biases especially on the part of the mother, Ruth. It certainly was nice that James McBride decided to trace his family roots. The prespective that he and his mother give to their growing up years are certainly similar. Both James and his mother sure had struggles growing up but truthfully I think James perservered a lot more than his Mom. James seemed to realize the positive values of the Jewish faith whereas his mom merely was annoyed by trying to keep Kosher and the struggles of the Jewish people. Her guilt shows up at many junctures of this book. What both Jews and Blacks both need to realize from this book is the similarities that each of them have in their cultures. Besides some annoying anti-semitism from the mother(Ruth), she still was obviously reluctant about going into greater detail about her experiences. Her neurotic behavior about always being on the move is completely abnormal. Her crazed desire to only date black men knowing that it would annoy her parents is also quite spiteful. And knowing times were hard, was it necessary to have twelve children and make it difficult on all of them? And what great things did she do to truly help her children succede? None of that is discussed here at all. This book is a decent learning tool as to what is both right and wrong in society today. Those reading it should view it with an open mind and avoid some of the biases and prejudices that takes place. It shows you what children of mixed race parents have to experience. Fortuantely, the author seems to have grown up into a fairly level headed person and is able to distinguish the beauty of Judiasm as well as being an African American. However, he should attribute his place in the wrold to his perserverance rather than the influence from his mother which is certainly pretty questionable.

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Summary: beautiful
Review: This book was deeply touching. More than just a bi-racial story of a black man and his white mother, this was a book about a women's determination and strength. McBride's tale of how his mother single-handedly raised him and his siblings through poverty, substandard schools and housing was truly uplifting. I am deeply grateful that McBride shared his story.

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Summary: Extrodinary and Spiritually Uplifting
Review: This book was so good that I read it twice. I admire how the title of the book came to be. The book is awesome! I can relate on MANY levels of this book. The book has a powerful lesson for EVERYONE! The mother has such devotion to her children despite her family's opinions of her and her choice of life. This is a MUST READ and should be in EVERYONE's book collection because it teaches us how to be human, how to love and how to be greatful to the one who is responsible for us being who we are.

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Summary: Two amazing people, two amazing stories
Review: Ruth Jordan and David McBride may not look like mother and son, but they are. This story tells the tale of two people who over came problems such as poverty, discrimination, and self-loathing to let their true personality shine through. Ruth battled childhood abuse and adult poverty to find love and happiness with two strong black men, and the twelve children she raised. David McBride fought the perils of the inner-city (drugs, crime,and gangs) to go on to college and become a journalist. This is more than a tale of overcoming race and prejudice. This is more than a tale about overcoming social/economic barriers. This is a tale of dedicated love, and how that love can reshape our world.

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Summary: This might not even have made a good magazine article
Review: This is a purely awful book. Here is a guy who's entire group of siblings have been raised in an extremely difficult circumstance, each went on to advanced degrees, and he never asks what made their family special (other than their mother was white). He never peels the onion beyond the first thin layer. No questions are probed, other than where did his mother come from. When he finds the "where", there is no follow-up investigation, no probing of the family. This entire book would need more in-depth investigation or introspection to have made a good magazine article. As it is, it certainly does not fill a book.