James McBride erzählt die bewegende und außergewöhnliche Geschichte seiner Familie, vor allem aber seiner Mutter, einer polnischen Jüdin, die mit 17 Jahren nach New York zog, um einen Schwarzen zu heiraten.
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No fiction could be more unique and uplifting than this real-life biography of Rachel Deborah Shilsky, the daughter of an angry Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the South who runs off to Harlem, marries a black man, becomes a Baptist, and founds an all-black church. And puts 12 children through college! James McBride recalls his confusion as a black child of a white mother, the hardships of his childhood, and his own flirtation with drugs and violence, in the struggle to make peace with his own identity. Performed by Andre Braugher and Lainie Kazan, this extraordinary and best-selling memoir offers a special reflection on race and identity, a beautiful tribute to a mother from her son.
James McBride is a native New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools. He studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in New York at age 22. He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. He is married with three children. He lives in Pennsylvania and New York.
James McBride is a former staff writer for The Washington Post, People Magazine, and The Boston Globe. His work has also appeared in Essence, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. His April, 2007 National Geographic story entitled “Hip Hop Planet” is considered a respected treatise on African American music and culture.
As a musician, he has written songs (music and lyrics) for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., and Gary Burton, among others. He served as a tenor saxophone sideman for jazz legend Little Jimmy Scott. He is the recipient of several awards for his work as a composer in musical theater including the Stephen Sondheim Award and the Richard Rodgers Foundation Horizon Award. His “Riffin' and Pontificatin' ” Tour, a nationwide tour of high schools and colleges promoting reading through jazz, was captured in a 2003 Comcast documentary. He has been featured on national radio and television programs in America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.