James McBride crea narrazioni ricche delle complessità dell'esperienza umana, concentrandosi spesso sul panorama culturale americano con una voce distintiva. La sua scrittura è caratterizzata da una prosa vibrante e da una profonda comprensione dei personaggi che porta in vita. McBride intreccia magistralmente umorismo, commento sociale e profondità emotiva, creando opere che sono allo stesso tempo avvincenti e stimolanti. Il suo approccio letterario unico offre ai lettori un'esplorazione percettiva dell'identità e della comunità.
Questo libro è la storia stupefacente della figlia di un rabbino polacco giunta in America all'età di due anni, che a vent'anni nel 1942 fugge ad Harlem dal profondo Sud sposa un nero, fonda con lui una chiesa battista, viene ripudiata dalla famiglia d'origine e alleva in mezzo a grandi difficoltà dodici figli, tutti arrivati alla laurea. La vita di questa donna straordinaria è una continua sfida ai luoghi comuni e un inno ininterrotto alla forza dello spirito umano.
Il capolavoro che ha conquistato l’America: oltre un milione di copie vendute, considerato tra i migliori libri degli ultimi venticinque anni dai lettori del «New York Times».
Now a Showtime limited series starring Ethan Hawke and Daveed Diggs Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction From the bestselling author of Deacon King Kong (an Oprah Book Club pick) and The Color of Water comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade—and who must pass as a girl to survive. Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1856--a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces--when legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives. When an argument between Brown and Henry's master turns violent, Henry is forced to leave town--along with Brown, who believes Henry to be a girl and his good luck charm. Over the ensuing months, Henry, whom Brown nicknames Little Onion, conceals his true identity to stay alive. Eventually Brown sweeps him into the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859--one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride's meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.
Now a Showtime limited series starring Ethan Hawke and Daveed Diggs Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction From the bestselling author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, Deacon King Kong (an Oprah Book Club pick) and The Color of Water comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade—and who must pass as a girl to survive. Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1856--a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces--when legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives. When an argument between Brown and Henry's master turns violent, Henry is forced to leave town--along with Brown, who believes Henry to be a girl and his good luck charm. Over the ensuing months, Henry, whom Brown nicknames Little Onion, conceals his true identity to stay alive. Eventually Brown sweeps him into the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859--one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride's meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .45 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird. In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood's Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself. As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters--caught in the tumultuous swirl of 1960s New York--overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth does emerge, McBride shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in hope and compassion. Bringing to these pages both his masterly storytelling skills and his abiding faith in humanity, James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us.
'A formidable free-style book that isn't straight biography but a mix of history, street-level investigative reporting, hagiography, Deep South sociology, music criticism, memoir and some fiery preaching' Rolling Stone magazine A Guardian best music book of 2016 The music of James Brown was almost a genre in its own right, and he was one of the biggest and most influential cultural figures of the twentieth century. But the singer known as the 'Hardest Working Man in Show Business' was also an immensely troubled, misunderstood and complicated man. Award-winning writer James McBride, himself a professional musician, has undertaken a journey of discovery in search of the 'real' James Brown, delving into the heartbreaking saga of Brown's childhood and destroyed estate, and uncovering the hidden history of Brown's early years.
"Inspired by a historical incident that took place in the village of St. Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany and by the experiences of the famed Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Division in Italy during World War II, Miracle at St. Anna is a singular evocation of war, cruelty, passion, heroism, and love. It is the story of four American soldiers, the villagers among whom they take refuge, a band of partisans, and an Italian boy, all of whom encounter a miracle - though perhaps the true miracle lies in themselves."--BOOK JACKET.
'I loved this book' BONNIE GARMUS'A generous, compassionate book about the
power of love and community' LOUISE KENNEDY'I can't recommend this one highly
enough ' HARLAN COBEN'THIS is his best book' ANN PATCHETTTHE MAJOR
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERBARACK OBAMA'S BOOK OF THE YEAR PICKAMAZON.COM #1 BOOK
OF THE YEARBOOK OF THE YEAR IN: THE GUARDIAN, NEW YORKER, NEW YORK TIMES, TIME
MAGAZINE, HARPER'S BAZAAR, OPRAH DAILY AND WASHINGTON POSTWINNER OF THE 2023
KIRKUS FICTION PRIZEIn 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were
digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to
find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it
got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken
Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where Jewish immigrants and African
Americans lived side by side through the 1920s and '30s.In this novel about
small-town secrets and the people who keep them, James McBride shows us that
even in dark times, it is love and community - heaven and earth - that sustain
us.
»Ein Erzählband wie ein Flipperautomat: James McBride in Bestform.« New York Times Book Review Ein Spielzeug-Sammler, der im Haus eines armen Predigers eine sensationelle Entdeckung macht. Ein Waisenjunge, der über die Schlachtfelder des amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs wandert und glaubt, der Sohn Abraham Lincolns zu sein. Fünf junge Musiker einer Band aus einem Vorort von Pittsburgh, die feststellen müssen, dass überall in ihrem Viertel dunkle Geheimnisse lauern. Ein Löwe im Zoo, der eine plötzliche Ahnung bekommt von der Schönheit des Lebens. Ein Schwergewichtsboxer, der boxt wie Muhammad Ali, als es darum geht, den Torwächter der Hölle zum Kampf gegen die ewige Verdammnis herauszufordern… Was macht den Mensch zum Menschen? James McBride erzählt von Krieg und Geschichte, von Herkunft und Identität, vom Versuch, die Welt zu verstehen und sich selbst – fantasievoll, skurril, berührend und immer überraschend.