The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
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The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

James McBride (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator), Susan Denaker (Narrator),
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 10,121 ratings
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The New York Times best-selling story from the author of The Good Lord Bird, winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction.

Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her ethnicity, yet steadfast in her love for her 12 Black children. James McBride, journalist, musician, and son, explores his mother's past, as well as his own upbringing and heritage, in a poignant and powerful debut, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. The son of a Black minister and a woman who would not admit she was White, James McBride grew up in "orchestrated chaos" with his 11 siblings in the poor, all-Black projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn.

In The Color of Water, McBride retraces his mother's footsteps and, through her searing and spirited voice, recreates her remarkable story. The daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox rabbi, she was born Rachel Shilsky (actually Ruchel Dwara Zylska) in Poland on April 1, 1921. Fleeing pogroms, her family emigrated to America and ultimately settled in Suffolk, Virginia, a small town where anti-Semitism and racial tensions ran high. At 17, after fleeing Virginia and settling in New York City, Ruth married a Black minister and founded the all-Black New Brown Memorial Baptist Church in her Red Hook living room. "God is the color of water", Ruth McBride taught her children, firmly convinced that life's blessings and life's values transcend race.

Interspersed throughout his mother's compelling narrative, McBride shares candid recollections of his own experiences as a mixed-race child of poverty, his flirtations with drugs and violence, and his eventual self-realization and professional success. The Color of Water touches listeners of all colors as a vivid portrait of growing up, a haunting meditation on race and identity, and a lyrical valentine to a mother from her son.

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  1. Listening Length
    8 hours and 46 minutes
  2. Author
    James McBride
  3. Narrator
    JD Jackson, see all
  4. Audible release date
    September 25, 2014
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Penguin Audio
  7. ASIN
    B00NQAUZPG
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 8 hours and 46 minutes
Author James McBride
Narrator JD Jackson, Susan Denaker
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date September 25, 2014
Publisher Penguin Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B00NQAUZPG
Best Sellers Rank #3,238 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#4 in Cultural & Regional Biographies (Audible Books & Originals)
#9 in Black & African American History (Audible Books & Originals)
#12 in Parent & Adult Child Relationships (Books)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
10,121 global ratings
In finally finding his mother, he is able to find himself!
5 Stars
In finally finding his mother, he is able to find himself!
This is my second time reading this book. I enjoyed learning about Jame’s “different” family life and family interactions. His mother’s life was truly unforgettable. She was a strong woman who was determined to raise her 12 children to be successful, against all odds…and she did. She is a courageous, lemonade maker~I love her 💐💕✝️ and her book writing son 👶🏽❣️
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Top reviews from the United States

hope
5.0 out of 5 stars page turning!
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2024
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Compelling, thought invoking, wonderful, great writing! Wonderfully written, a lot of profound insight into many hard topics and times! The writer having lived it himself how wonderful to let us in to look at how he, triumphed over hardships! Great Job!!
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Artful Dodger
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written comparison and contrast of two imporant american cultures
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2024
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Well written. Historically relevant and interesting.
A good prelude to "Heaven and Earth Grocery store", a poignant book.
Gives you some good background information to help understand this oil and water mixture of a Jewish mother and afro-american father.
3 people found this helpful
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Cindy Francis
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024
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Interesting perspective. Well written
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john
5.0 out of 5 stars An black man honors his white mother
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024
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James Mc Bride is a splendid author. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone who is interested in the dynamics of how racism divides our culture and how love and understanding can bring us together.
One person found this helpful
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Mamabotanica
5.0 out of 5 stars A rich story of family, courage, race, survival, and love. I couldn’t put it down.
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2024
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I read this after the Heaven And Earth Grocery (I think that’s the title) which was an incredible read. It was fun to piece bits of that book with the real story of the author’s mother. McBride had a highly unusual upbringing and this story is entertaining and moving. His mother is a remarkable woman!
5 people found this helpful
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Faith
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read!
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
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I enjoyed this story so much! It is incredible how much you can overcome with the right mindset.
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nb
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming well written
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2024
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James McBride is a great writer. His stories and this memoir are well written, funny and full of heartening feelings. Not his best but really good
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G. J Wiener
3.0 out of 5 stars The Entire Story Is Not Told
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2001
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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.
21 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Johnsson JAN
5.0 out of 5 stars All cultures and colors mixes and matters!
Reviewed in Spain on September 4, 2020
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A must read for all!
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Lizzie
5.0 out of 5 stars A man's efforts rewarded with history
Reviewed in Australia on September 17, 2014
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It was an interesting insight into a world I have never known - a white Jewish woman falling in love and marrying two Christian black men, her life through the racially tough period in the US - bringing up 12 talented and educated black children without giving any of her children an I sight into her own and her family's history. James' long efforts to get his mother to open up to him about her past in order for him to know himself was really fascinating.
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Reva Stern
4.0 out of 5 stars It's an uncomfortable subject to contend with.
Reviewed in Canada on September 28, 2023
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Product? What did I use it for? It's a book. "The Colour of Water." Not a product.
It's a memoir of the challenging life of a complex family that overcame enormous barriers to find enormous success.

I preferred his new book "The Heaven And Earth Grocery Store," which was brilliantly written and made for compelling reading.
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Carlo
4.0 out of 5 stars Interessante
Reviewed in Italy on October 5, 2014
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Uno squarcio interessante sulla america del passato. Gli ebrei, i neri e i bianchi attraverso i decenni con il filo conduttore di una donna che ha vissuto attraverso tutti questi mondi.
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GUGLIELMO J
5.0 out of 5 stars MCBRIDE'S MARVELOUS MOTHER
Reviewed in Australia on November 1, 2015
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For a white woman to walk through lower Manhattan hand in hand with her twelve brown children says remakable to me ! Her sons recolllections made me smile &augh out loud page after page . I would lve to see the movie !
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