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Five-Carat Soul
The stories in Five-Carat Soul--none of them ever published before--spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. McBride explores the ways we learn from the world and the people around us. An antiques dealer discovers that a legendary toy commissioned by Civil War General Robert E. Lee now sits in the home of a black minister in Queens. Five strangers find themselves thrown together and face unexpected judgment. An American president draws inspiration from a conversation he overhears in a stable. And members of The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band recount stories from their own messy and hilarious lives.
The under Graham railroad box car set --
Buck boy --
Ray-Ray's picture box --
Blub --
Goat --
Father Abe --
The moaning bench --
The Christmas dance --
The fish man angel --
Mr. P & the wind
The under Graham railroad box car set --
Buck boy --
Ray-Ray's picture box --
Blub --
Goat --
Father Abe --
The moaning bench --
The Christmas dance --
The fish man angel --
Mr. P & the wind
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 26, 2017
About the author
James McBride
23 books6,353 followersJames 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.
---from his official website
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.
---from his official website
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December 21, 2023
Crown offered a promo for a time in which stories were sent to those who signed on. This is how I came to read The Christmas Dance, the tale reviewed here. I did not read the entire collection, only this one from it. But the short story per se does not have its own ISBN, so reviewers must post reviews of individual stories under title of the entire collection. Just so’s you know. This is not a review of Five-Carat Soul.Herb Melton, a young scholar working on his PhD thesis at Columbia University, interviews two surviving members of the 92nd, an all-black infantry division known as the “Buffalo Soldiers,” about their experiences during World War II. The Judge is Walter Booker, a garrulous sort who is happy to chat, but clams up when asked about some parts of his wartime experience. A “skirmish” in which seventy fought and only seventeen survived is central. Carlos Lopez, his back bent from decades of delivering mail, was in the same company. He had been assigned to the 92nd because of his skin tone, while his lighter skinned brother was sent to a white division. He talks about his days as an outstanding dancer. In telling their stories, the two recount younger days in Harlem, seeing Count Basie at Minton’s ballroom, and one wartime battle in particular. A third voice is one Lillian Johns of Brockton Massachusetts.
James McBride - image from the Washington Post
The story is not only about black soldiers in the war, but offers an image of a golden era in Harlem. It is not just about remembering the challenges of combat but remembering some of the glories of home, the strong visions of a past that is in danger of fading from memory. The Christmas Dance summons to mind some Harlem institutions, physical and cultural, and looks at the challenges of racial treatment during the war. Sylvia’s Soul Food and Minton’s are summoned. Both are still around, although Minton’s is in a new location.
Beautifully drawn characters, a sense of both place and time, and a poignant ending to die for, warm and appropriate to the season. The meaning of the title is made clear. A beautiful seasonal tale, by a master story-teller, who leads you through the stages of the story as if you were on a dance floor with him, A Christmas Dance nails all the moves and will leave you both satisfied and in tears.
James McBride is the author of the National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird and his multi-million selling memoir, The Color of Water
Review first posted – 12/15/17
Publication date – 9/26/17 – for Five-Carat Soul
=============================EXTRA STUFF
You must check out McBride’s personal site, which is not only a treat for the eyes, offering a unique design, but is a treat for the ear as well. Really, you won’t be sorry.
One must wonder if Herb Melton might have been named for Sylvia Woods’s (of Sylvia’s Soul Food) late husband
The Count Basie rendition of Polka Dots and Moonbeams. Yes, it it relevant.
Sylvia’s Soul food Joint
Henry Minton founded his eponymous club in 1938. A 1974 fire destroyed its original location in the Cecil Hotel.
Gift giving generates warm and fuzzies, particularly this time of year. But it is pretty sweet to be on the receiving end as well. Crown Publishing has a program they call Season of Stories. That was the source for this short story. For three months at the end of the year they pop into your e-mail one free short story a week. The stories arrive in four bite-size installments, and are from wonderful authors. I heartily recommend it.
...well, they used to, anyway. It appears that the program has either been discontinued, or moved, as the link I had included here no longer goes where it once did. Ah, well. It was lovely while it lasted. Thanks, Crown.
October 16, 2017
4.5 McBride shows us in this fantastic grouping of stories, a wide range of experiences from the viewpoint of blacks. They cover different points of history, from the Civil War and on. The Five-Carat Soul was the band name of a group of youths, starting from the age of nine, telling of life in the Bottoms, the section of a town in Pennsylvania that they called home. There are several of these connecting stories, narrated by a young boy called, Butter. Chronicling daily life but also some notable happenings. I enjoyed these stories, very realistically portrayed and experiencing them from the viewpoint of a young boy made them even more noteworthy.
I did, however, have three favorites. The first story about a white toy collector who covers and has the opportunity it to acquire a one of a kind train set. Made to order for Robert E. Lee, who gave it to his young son, it is discovered in the home of a black preacher. What happens is surprising and the ending even more so. Two stories made me cry. One set shortly after the Civil War and concerns a young boy named Abe Lincoln. Some of the black soldiers tell him his daddy, Abe Lincoln would be visiting soon. The boy believes him, and in fact Abe does come, accompanied by someone unexpected. The ending of the story is also unexpected. The second story is the Christmas dance and the story within is told by a few men who had been part of the Buffalo Soldiers. Again the ending is unexpected and quite beautiful.
This may be my favorite book of short stories this year. Though will admit that I didn't care for the last, those were a bit of a let down. All in all though these stories are in and of themselves complete, something that in shorts is not always the case. I think McBride is a natural born storyteller, which is what makes this genre a perfect fit.
ARC from Edelweiss.
I did, however, have three favorites. The first story about a white toy collector who covers and has the opportunity it to acquire a one of a kind train set. Made to order for Robert E. Lee, who gave it to his young son, it is discovered in the home of a black preacher. What happens is surprising and the ending even more so. Two stories made me cry. One set shortly after the Civil War and concerns a young boy named Abe Lincoln. Some of the black soldiers tell him his daddy, Abe Lincoln would be visiting soon. The boy believes him, and in fact Abe does come, accompanied by someone unexpected. The ending of the story is also unexpected. The second story is the Christmas dance and the story within is told by a few men who had been part of the Buffalo Soldiers. Again the ending is unexpected and quite beautiful.
This may be my favorite book of short stories this year. Though will admit that I didn't care for the last, those were a bit of a let down. All in all though these stories are in and of themselves complete, something that in shorts is not always the case. I think McBride is a natural born storyteller, which is what makes this genre a perfect fit.
ARC from Edelweiss.
March 9, 2019
On his website James McBride has a short biographical video in which he talks about his mother, his music, and his writing. Every one of the twelve kids in his New York City family growing up played music and read books. McBride himself plays saxophone, and played in a traveling band while writing his first book, The Color of Water. McBride says “we’re all the same…there’s none of that black and white stuff when one gets to the nursing homes…they’re all just happy their body parts are still functioning.” That may well be, but please let’s not wait that long to get past race.
McBride’s yarn-spinning tone is in full voice right from the first story, “The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set,” where we learn about the fabulously valuable toy railroad set made for General Robert E. Lee’s five-year-old son Graham by Horace Smith, of Smith & Wesson fame. Rumors of the train set swirled for more than a century before a photograph of it appeared one day at the home of a seller of vintage toys living in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania.
The very finest stories in this collection come at the end, including “Mr. P & The Wind,” a fable which really should be published as a stand-alone paperback storybook for adults with pen-and-ink drawings, like that of Chekov or Kipling at the end of the 19th Century. In this story, animals residing in a zoo discuss their lives before zoo-dom, what their real natures are like, and their understanding of reincarnation. One thing they’d learned very well in the zoo was that humans—the Smelly Ones—were able to kill expeditiously but they had little to no understanding of the Order of Life.
This piece ranks as a bedtime story for grownups, a just-long-enough, miraculously inoffensive and reassuring vehicle for dispensing wisdom and life experience, certainly exceeding the feel-good but ultimately empty bloviation of the Dr. Seuss book often gifted at graduations, Oh, The Places You’ll Go! The animals communicate in Thought Shapes which do not register to humans who have not learned the language. In this way, whales can communicate with lions and panthers, difficult and exciting though that is to comprehend. A Smelly One, Mr. P, learns to Thought Shape.
Four of the stories in this collection center around the five-and-a-half-member Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band, and we could see what they were learning from their neighborhood: Pig and Dirt were former members, Bunny, Dex, half-member Ray-Ray, Beanie, Goat, and Butter, our narrator. The time was different back then, when the band practiced over Mr. Woo’s grocery, before Mr. Woo killed “Buck Boy,” who had tried to rob him.
Then there was “Blub” the young man the band boys always thought was younger. He had a tender heart and was easily led, and ended up working a murder charge until Butter could tell the court a story about Blub back when he gave more love than he got, back when a girl with a cat could darn near break his heart. “It ain’t him,” Butter would testify. “They got the wrong man.”
In “The Moaning Bench” we get a whiff of the everlasting…the everlasting hellfire that awaits those who have not examined what it means to be penitent. In “The Christmas Dance” we review again the role of black soldiers in Italy during the Second World War. Two survivors of a horribly-ravaged regiment were surprised in a 1944 Christmas Day attack that took out most of their fellow soldiers. On Christmas Day every year they get together to dance, and to remember.
Two stories tell of Abraham Lincoln, whose difficult choices and grief binds him to us even now. “The Fish Man Angel” was my second favorite story in the collection. Lincoln’s loss is palpable as he curls up in the stable with his dead boy Wille’s favorite pony, sharing loneliness and warmth. From that vantage point he overhears the cruelty of one black man speaking to another and fixes that problem at least.
The second of the Lincoln stories, “Father Abe,” describes a young mixed-race orphan called Abe Lincoln seeking clarification about his parentage: surely if his name is the same as the president, wouldn’t that man would be his father? The 9th Louisiana Colored Infantry Regiment, briefly and exhaustedly paused in Richmond, VA near the end of the war, found Little Abe persistent in his demand to know which man was his father.
Stories like these seem designed to entrance even much-older children who have their own children. That’s the thing about McBride. His writing allows adults time to relax, to play a little. He feeds our credulous, childlike selves; we put aside his work to think on it a bit. McBride has a reservoir of humor and goodwill that saves his work from both despair and from too great an optimism.
McBride’s yarn-spinning tone is in full voice right from the first story, “The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set,” where we learn about the fabulously valuable toy railroad set made for General Robert E. Lee’s five-year-old son Graham by Horace Smith, of Smith & Wesson fame. Rumors of the train set swirled for more than a century before a photograph of it appeared one day at the home of a seller of vintage toys living in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania.
The very finest stories in this collection come at the end, including “Mr. P & The Wind,” a fable which really should be published as a stand-alone paperback storybook for adults with pen-and-ink drawings, like that of Chekov or Kipling at the end of the 19th Century. In this story, animals residing in a zoo discuss their lives before zoo-dom, what their real natures are like, and their understanding of reincarnation. One thing they’d learned very well in the zoo was that humans—the Smelly Ones—were able to kill expeditiously but they had little to no understanding of the Order of Life.
This piece ranks as a bedtime story for grownups, a just-long-enough, miraculously inoffensive and reassuring vehicle for dispensing wisdom and life experience, certainly exceeding the feel-good but ultimately empty bloviation of the Dr. Seuss book often gifted at graduations, Oh, The Places You’ll Go! The animals communicate in Thought Shapes which do not register to humans who have not learned the language. In this way, whales can communicate with lions and panthers, difficult and exciting though that is to comprehend. A Smelly One, Mr. P, learns to Thought Shape.
Four of the stories in this collection center around the five-and-a-half-member Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band, and we could see what they were learning from their neighborhood: Pig and Dirt were former members, Bunny, Dex, half-member Ray-Ray, Beanie, Goat, and Butter, our narrator. The time was different back then, when the band practiced over Mr. Woo’s grocery, before Mr. Woo killed “Buck Boy,” who had tried to rob him.
Then there was “Blub” the young man the band boys always thought was younger. He had a tender heart and was easily led, and ended up working a murder charge until Butter could tell the court a story about Blub back when he gave more love than he got, back when a girl with a cat could darn near break his heart. “It ain’t him,” Butter would testify. “They got the wrong man.”
In “The Moaning Bench” we get a whiff of the everlasting…the everlasting hellfire that awaits those who have not examined what it means to be penitent. In “The Christmas Dance” we review again the role of black soldiers in Italy during the Second World War. Two survivors of a horribly-ravaged regiment were surprised in a 1944 Christmas Day attack that took out most of their fellow soldiers. On Christmas Day every year they get together to dance, and to remember.
Two stories tell of Abraham Lincoln, whose difficult choices and grief binds him to us even now. “The Fish Man Angel” was my second favorite story in the collection. Lincoln’s loss is palpable as he curls up in the stable with his dead boy Wille’s favorite pony, sharing loneliness and warmth. From that vantage point he overhears the cruelty of one black man speaking to another and fixes that problem at least.
The second of the Lincoln stories, “Father Abe,” describes a young mixed-race orphan called Abe Lincoln seeking clarification about his parentage: surely if his name is the same as the president, wouldn’t that man would be his father? The 9th Louisiana Colored Infantry Regiment, briefly and exhaustedly paused in Richmond, VA near the end of the war, found Little Abe persistent in his demand to know which man was his father.
Stories like these seem designed to entrance even much-older children who have their own children. That’s the thing about McBride. His writing allows adults time to relax, to play a little. He feeds our credulous, childlike selves; we put aside his work to think on it a bit. McBride has a reservoir of humor and goodwill that saves his work from both despair and from too great an optimism.
April 14, 2020
Discovering James McBride's writing with Five-Carat Soul was like wrapping myself in a warm blanket of literary comfort. I had an absolute blast every time I pulled up in my trusty social isolation chair (it rocks!) to see what McBride had in store for me. There's a lot of wit, humanity, humour, and insight tied up in these varied stories, but it's the voices of McBride's incredible characters that captured my admiration.
Through unique narrators and McBride's superb writing I was pulled into each story on the first or second page. Most of the stories read colloquially--the four stories that comprise The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band--but a few of the bunch (The Christmas Dance and The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set) aim for a more traditional, but no less excellent, style. The only one that didn't do much for me was The Fish Man Angel, but it is so short that it's entirely skippable. All the rest of these stories are charming and come highly recommended.
I'll be keeping this review short, but I think it's well worth any reader's time to read through this collection. This was my first go-around with James McBride, but it's in no way going to be my last. It was a nice reminder of the thrill of discovering an exciting voice during the short-story challenge I did a few years back. It's time I get back to reading a few more this year!
Through unique narrators and McBride's superb writing I was pulled into each story on the first or second page. Most of the stories read colloquially--the four stories that comprise The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band--but a few of the bunch (The Christmas Dance and The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set) aim for a more traditional, but no less excellent, style. The only one that didn't do much for me was The Fish Man Angel, but it is so short that it's entirely skippable. All the rest of these stories are charming and come highly recommended.
I'll be keeping this review short, but I think it's well worth any reader's time to read through this collection. This was my first go-around with James McBride, but it's in no way going to be my last. It was a nice reminder of the thrill of discovering an exciting voice during the short-story challenge I did a few years back. It's time I get back to reading a few more this year!
September 26, 2020
These stories cover a range of places and time periods. Some of them are poignant, charming and surprising, while others are heavy handed and clumsy. For me, the better stories are at the beginning of the book and I particularly liked the first story "The Underground Railroad Box Car Set". Unfortunately, I found "Mr. P and the Wind" to be an unbearable allegory with talking zoo animals. Since it was the final, and longest, story in the book it left me with a poor impression. However, overall there was a lot more good than bad with this collection.
October 24, 2017
The best thing about short story collections is also the worst thing. This is that each story is. free-standing entity. You can read it and enjoy it and move on to the next. If you don't enjoy it, you can still move on to the next. I have never read a short story collection that didn't have at least ONE story that I could appreciate.
This collection is full of winners! My favorite stories were the ones in the second half of the book. THE CHRISTMAS DANCE had me sniffling in public. It was so odd-- I knew exactly where the story was going but it broke my heart just the same. My favorite favorite favorite was a long story-- broken into five chapters-- about the secret lives of zoo animals. I know it may sound silly, but it was so smart, funny, and emotional. I just loved it.
The stories in the middle about the young boys in a band were not as moving, but they were still pretty good. My guess is that much will be made about the guy who sells vintage toys and wants to buy Robert E Lee's toy train. I was impressed with that story on a head-level, but my heart was most moved by the stories in the latter half of the book.
This collection is full of winners! My favorite stories were the ones in the second half of the book. THE CHRISTMAS DANCE had me sniffling in public. It was so odd-- I knew exactly where the story was going but it broke my heart just the same. My favorite favorite favorite was a long story-- broken into five chapters-- about the secret lives of zoo animals. I know it may sound silly, but it was so smart, funny, and emotional. I just loved it.
The stories in the middle about the young boys in a band were not as moving, but they were still pretty good. My guess is that much will be made about the guy who sells vintage toys and wants to buy Robert E Lee's toy train. I was impressed with that story on a head-level, but my heart was most moved by the stories in the latter half of the book.
July 14, 2024
What a beautiful book! I cannot recommend Five Carat Soul enough to all my friends that love a good story, a good cry, and a sense of optimism that is missing even from some of the best novels out there. Think of Mark Twain, O'Henry, and Ernest Gaines getting together for a drink, and riffing on heartbreak, steeped in the coming of age blues.
“Goat", a beautifully rendered story of a young man in love with his beautiful teacher, the pangs of first love and a first crush that parallels with Goat- a poor boy from a community called The Bottom (a riff on Toni Morrison's Sula) who is an untapped track star without a birth certificate. This may be one of the loveliest stories about first love, and a boy's appreciation for his teacher I've ever read.
"The Christmas Dance" is the joyful story of Herb, a PhD student on a mission to research the story of the 92nd Brigade of World War 2, and the curmudgeonly and reluctant Judge who is hesitant to tell his side of the story. It's also the story of Carlos, a lonely Puerto Rican man who loves to dance, of how Herb learns that a good story takes time and patience. And it's gorgeously hilarious and bittersweet ending with a mysterious woman named Lillian connects all the dots that makes this story the collection's gem.
Mr P and the Wind is a hilarious novella in the point of view of a lion captured from Africa and aging at the Bronx Zoo. Humane and riffing on the blues and sorrow of being degraded and beaten down, it's still a magical story of resilience and strength.
The Color of Water may be James McBride's most famous book, The Good Lord Bird may be his most honored- but this gem of short stories is his loveliest and most human.
“Goat", a beautifully rendered story of a young man in love with his beautiful teacher, the pangs of first love and a first crush that parallels with Goat- a poor boy from a community called The Bottom (a riff on Toni Morrison's Sula) who is an untapped track star without a birth certificate. This may be one of the loveliest stories about first love, and a boy's appreciation for his teacher I've ever read.
"The Christmas Dance" is the joyful story of Herb, a PhD student on a mission to research the story of the 92nd Brigade of World War 2, and the curmudgeonly and reluctant Judge who is hesitant to tell his side of the story. It's also the story of Carlos, a lonely Puerto Rican man who loves to dance, of how Herb learns that a good story takes time and patience. And it's gorgeously hilarious and bittersweet ending with a mysterious woman named Lillian connects all the dots that makes this story the collection's gem.
Mr P and the Wind is a hilarious novella in the point of view of a lion captured from Africa and aging at the Bronx Zoo. Humane and riffing on the blues and sorrow of being degraded and beaten down, it's still a magical story of resilience and strength.
The Color of Water may be James McBride's most famous book, The Good Lord Bird may be his most honored- but this gem of short stories is his loveliest and most human.
November 8, 2017
My first McBride (as I did not read the much-lauded Good Lord Bird), Five-Carat Soul is an eclectic mix of shorts--one of those deals where you average stars because it scores 5 on technical merit and 3 on entertainment value.
Some of the stories are set in our time, some in history, and some in a fantasy world of sorts. The opener, about a toy collector who's on to the Holy Grail of toys (a toy train once owned by Robert E. Lee, of all people), gets the set off to a peppy start but ends rather flat. You know. Where you scratch your head and say, "Really? That's the best you can do? Then you're trying too hard."
Two of the stories are extended and divided into chapters--the eponymous one, about young boys who are pals and supposedly form a band (though the band figures precious little here) and the finale, which offers animals in a zoo who communicate in "Thought Speak." Shades of The Knife of Never Letting Go. Humans are called "Smelly Ones" and are, in most respects, inferior to animals (called "Higher Orders"). Shades of Gulliver's Travels with its witty Houyhnhnms. I don't know. It all sort of got out of control and everybody thought spoke too much for their own good.
More enjoyable was "Father Abe" (shades of Lincoln in the Bardo), which features Honest Abe visiting the stable to see son Tad's pony after son Tad dies. Abe overhears some of the slaves chatting it up, esp. a father-son duo meant to add poignancy to the father-no-son duo.
The collection has been compared to Twain and, in its way, that's a valid claim. Check out the dialect. McBride is a cool hand with the dialect. And Twain was a big fan of animals as higher-ups in the scheme of things. The damned human race did little for Mark (except provide big fat satirical targets).
A rather quick, sprightly read. Some Civil War, some contemporary, and some zooey. Overall, a worthwhile collection. You'll like some more than others, but show me a short story collection where that is NOT the case and I'll make you mayor.
Some of the stories are set in our time, some in history, and some in a fantasy world of sorts. The opener, about a toy collector who's on to the Holy Grail of toys (a toy train once owned by Robert E. Lee, of all people), gets the set off to a peppy start but ends rather flat. You know. Where you scratch your head and say, "Really? That's the best you can do? Then you're trying too hard."
Two of the stories are extended and divided into chapters--the eponymous one, about young boys who are pals and supposedly form a band (though the band figures precious little here) and the finale, which offers animals in a zoo who communicate in "Thought Speak." Shades of The Knife of Never Letting Go. Humans are called "Smelly Ones" and are, in most respects, inferior to animals (called "Higher Orders"). Shades of Gulliver's Travels with its witty Houyhnhnms. I don't know. It all sort of got out of control and everybody thought spoke too much for their own good.
More enjoyable was "Father Abe" (shades of Lincoln in the Bardo), which features Honest Abe visiting the stable to see son Tad's pony after son Tad dies. Abe overhears some of the slaves chatting it up, esp. a father-son duo meant to add poignancy to the father-no-son duo.
The collection has been compared to Twain and, in its way, that's a valid claim. Check out the dialect. McBride is a cool hand with the dialect. And Twain was a big fan of animals as higher-ups in the scheme of things. The damned human race did little for Mark (except provide big fat satirical targets).
A rather quick, sprightly read. Some Civil War, some contemporary, and some zooey. Overall, a worthwhile collection. You'll like some more than others, but show me a short story collection where that is NOT the case and I'll make you mayor.
December 21, 2020
After reading "The Good Lord Bird," I wanted to read another book by James McBride and chose "Five Carat Soul". It is a collection of McBride's stories. As in any story collection, some stories left me feeling indifferent to them and some were like finding gold.
For me, the memorable stories were:
The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set which features the mystery of a priceless train set that General Robert E Lee had made for his young son. In the present day, an antique toy collector finds where it is and then is at odds with the train's current owner, who does not see its worth.
Father Abe is about a 5 year old orphan living in Civil War times. The orphanage gave him the name of Abe Lincoln. Due to some teasing that little Abe takes seriously, he thinks that his father is President Abe Lincoln. Little Abe runs away to find him.
The Fish Man Angel portrays President Abe Lincoln's deep grief for his son Willie, which breaks through when he visits Willie's pony. A poignant part of the story revolves around the stable keeper and his young son, who loved Willie too.
The Christmas Dance is my favorite story in the collection. A young Phd. candidate tries to interview two black men (Carlos and Judge) who fought in the first all-black American infantry in Italy during the second World War. He comes to research their war experiences and as a by-product, learns about their annual Christmas Eve dance with Ms. Lillian at Minton's jazz club in Harlem. In their 80's now, they dance to Count Basie playing, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams".
Here is the Count playing the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOOWH...
For me, the memorable stories were:
The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set which features the mystery of a priceless train set that General Robert E Lee had made for his young son. In the present day, an antique toy collector finds where it is and then is at odds with the train's current owner, who does not see its worth.
Father Abe is about a 5 year old orphan living in Civil War times. The orphanage gave him the name of Abe Lincoln. Due to some teasing that little Abe takes seriously, he thinks that his father is President Abe Lincoln. Little Abe runs away to find him.
The Fish Man Angel portrays President Abe Lincoln's deep grief for his son Willie, which breaks through when he visits Willie's pony. A poignant part of the story revolves around the stable keeper and his young son, who loved Willie too.
The Christmas Dance is my favorite story in the collection. A young Phd. candidate tries to interview two black men (Carlos and Judge) who fought in the first all-black American infantry in Italy during the second World War. He comes to research their war experiences and as a by-product, learns about their annual Christmas Eve dance with Ms. Lillian at Minton's jazz club in Harlem. In their 80's now, they dance to Count Basie playing, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams".
Here is the Count playing the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOOWH...
February 13, 2024
Catching up…
This was an in-between book, in which I would read a short story, in-between the novels I was also reading. That way I could take my time and savor the book for as long as I needed it.
And…
This one did not disappoint. I have always appreciated McBride’s writing. I loved “Deacon King Kong.” Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Years ago, I read and discussed with my Library Book Discussion group, “The Good Lord Bird.” I still need to write my review for that one. I can tell you that it was an epic discussion experience.
Now…
This one. Also, read a while ago, and I’m now bringing my review to Goodreads. Do you ever think I will catch up with my reviews for all those amazing books that have touched my life?
I guess it will be one book at a time.
So…
With this collection, McBride has a way of writing that captures the soul of his characters through his imagination. It is bold, fearless and original as he takes readers into a variety of lives – human and otherwise.
Speaking of which …
The otherwise is…
A 5-chapter novella charming us with zoo animals. From the narration of an insightful lion humiliated by zoo life, we are treated to an out-of-the-ordinary and unexpected tale that is heart-touching.
And…
In his Author’s note, he shares with readers that he wrote the zoo story as a way to soothe his nephews who were “horrified” by their first visit to one.
Of course…
There are other stories – 9 total. All with colorful, interesting characters.
And…
He provides us these tales in style and setting that are linked by compassion. He features well-drawn characters that are beautifully written.
So…
For those interested, the stories, lyrical in their own way, they will most likely stick with you, long after you turn the last page.
This was an in-between book, in which I would read a short story, in-between the novels I was also reading. That way I could take my time and savor the book for as long as I needed it.
And…
This one did not disappoint. I have always appreciated McBride’s writing. I loved “Deacon King Kong.” Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Years ago, I read and discussed with my Library Book Discussion group, “The Good Lord Bird.” I still need to write my review for that one. I can tell you that it was an epic discussion experience.
Now…
This one. Also, read a while ago, and I’m now bringing my review to Goodreads. Do you ever think I will catch up with my reviews for all those amazing books that have touched my life?
I guess it will be one book at a time.
So…
With this collection, McBride has a way of writing that captures the soul of his characters through his imagination. It is bold, fearless and original as he takes readers into a variety of lives – human and otherwise.
Speaking of which …
The otherwise is…
A 5-chapter novella charming us with zoo animals. From the narration of an insightful lion humiliated by zoo life, we are treated to an out-of-the-ordinary and unexpected tale that is heart-touching.
And…
In his Author’s note, he shares with readers that he wrote the zoo story as a way to soothe his nephews who were “horrified” by their first visit to one.
Of course…
There are other stories – 9 total. All with colorful, interesting characters.
And…
He provides us these tales in style and setting that are linked by compassion. He features well-drawn characters that are beautifully written.
So…
For those interested, the stories, lyrical in their own way, they will most likely stick with you, long after you turn the last page.
December 30, 2018
This is a collection of amazing short stories by James McBride. Some of the stories are quite different from one another, yet there are definitely common threads, such as the stories about the members of the Five-Carat Soul Band. They all had a subtle spark of humor and some of the stories had remarkably surprising endings. I like stories that are unpredictable, and these stories definitely fit the bill.
I didn't read this book; I listened to the audiobook. The various stories had different narrators; Arthur Morey, Nile Bullock, Prentice Onayemi, and Dominic Hoffman. Each narrator was excellent; I highly recommend listening to the audiobook!
I didn't read this book; I listened to the audiobook. The various stories had different narrators; Arthur Morey, Nile Bullock, Prentice Onayemi, and Dominic Hoffman. Each narrator was excellent; I highly recommend listening to the audiobook!
August 11, 2017
Insanely fantastically smart, poignant, and funny (when called for) short stories. James McBride has considerable range as a storyteller and this collection of stories proves that point. I hadn't read Mr. McBride in a while and this collection reminded me, hot damn! the Man can write. Highly recommended!
May 6, 2018
I loved the beginning of this book, it was intruiging, well written and I hoped that this time James McBride will win me over. But exactly like in The Good Lord Bird, he lost me quite quickly.
Actually I didn't even know that it is a book of stories. And I am most of the time not a fan of stories. Few make them awesome (I can mention the exceptional Alice Munro for the millionth time), but the most, just don't.
I liked the beginning, the first story "The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set". A toy collector, beautifully explains his profession:Let me explain to you about the worth—and value—of antique toys. I have an art collector friend named Muriel, and we occasionally debate which of our respective trades is more lucrative and important to world history—an argument Muriel almost always wins. But one evening during one of these talks, after consuming a considerable amount of bourbon (which I’d generously supplied), I said: “Muriel, name me one piece of art in the world that is almost beyond wealth in terms of its worth, a piece that captures history’s impact on the present. Name me one.”
Muriel sat back thoughtfully, smoking a Gauloise with one hand and holding her glass in the other. “I can think of several,” she said. “The Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s David. Various Impressionists. Monet. Van Gogh. Those are priceless. They all import some kind of history to the present.”
“But do they have some kind of intrinsic value? One that you can assign money to?” I asked.
“I suppose so,” she said.
“Aha!” I said, pouncing on her weakness. “Therein lies the difference. Antique toys don’t work that way. Toys are priced based on emotion. The ones in the best condition have the saddest stories. The sadder the story, the more valuable the toy. That is a human element and it’s one that no painting has. The specific history of sorrow or joy in a child’s life, when determining the price, means the sky’s the limit. Because there is no limit to sadness at a child’s suffering, or the happiness a parent feels at a child’s wonder. Thus the emotion contained within the product, when determining the worth of a child’s life, is tied to a child’s innocence, which gives that product infinite value.”
So why did McBride lose me? Maybe because all the stories finished abruptly. Maybe because the stories are very uneven. Mixed bag that didn't keep me interested. About 2.5 stars.
Actually I didn't even know that it is a book of stories. And I am most of the time not a fan of stories. Few make them awesome (I can mention the exceptional Alice Munro for the millionth time), but the most, just don't.
I liked the beginning, the first story "The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set". A toy collector, beautifully explains his profession:Let me explain to you about the worth—and value—of antique toys. I have an art collector friend named Muriel, and we occasionally debate which of our respective trades is more lucrative and important to world history—an argument Muriel almost always wins. But one evening during one of these talks, after consuming a considerable amount of bourbon (which I’d generously supplied), I said: “Muriel, name me one piece of art in the world that is almost beyond wealth in terms of its worth, a piece that captures history’s impact on the present. Name me one.”
Muriel sat back thoughtfully, smoking a Gauloise with one hand and holding her glass in the other. “I can think of several,” she said. “The Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s David. Various Impressionists. Monet. Van Gogh. Those are priceless. They all import some kind of history to the present.”
“But do they have some kind of intrinsic value? One that you can assign money to?” I asked.
“I suppose so,” she said.
“Aha!” I said, pouncing on her weakness. “Therein lies the difference. Antique toys don’t work that way. Toys are priced based on emotion. The ones in the best condition have the saddest stories. The sadder the story, the more valuable the toy. That is a human element and it’s one that no painting has. The specific history of sorrow or joy in a child’s life, when determining the price, means the sky’s the limit. Because there is no limit to sadness at a child’s suffering, or the happiness a parent feels at a child’s wonder. Thus the emotion contained within the product, when determining the worth of a child’s life, is tied to a child’s innocence, which gives that product infinite value.”
So why did McBride lose me? Maybe because all the stories finished abruptly. Maybe because the stories are very uneven. Mixed bag that didn't keep me interested. About 2.5 stars.
February 24, 2018
Listened via LeVar Burton Reads podcast. (Bonus (#12.5?))
Enjoyed the slice-of-life and the writing that did well to give an impression of exploring a new world - an insular community shunned by those outside and therefore ignoring them in return. I dropped a star for the ending. The interview with the author after the story ended up confirming the worst interpretation of the ending, leaving it hollow and me wondering if the end was solely for shock value and ought to have been cut entirely.
Enjoyed the slice-of-life and the writing that did well to give an impression of exploring a new world - an insular community shunned by those outside and therefore ignoring them in return. I dropped a star for the ending. The interview with the author after the story ended up confirming the worst interpretation of the ending, leaving it hollow and me wondering if the end was solely for shock value and ought to have been cut entirely.
March 25, 2023
Me and my walking book club gals enjoyed reading this over the last few months. This was one of our favourites so far. McBride is an excellent writer and each story left us with lots to talk about on our walks. 😊
My favourite was The Christmas Dance. The first time a short story had me crying.
Highly recommended! I will definitely be looking for other books by McBride.
My favourite was The Christmas Dance. The first time a short story had me crying.
Highly recommended! I will definitely be looking for other books by McBride.
March 26, 2020
As per my GR friend C., this review is for the story The Christmas Dance. GRL strike again!
Below is the original review.
I listened to Levar Burton reading this, followed by his chat with the author about the story.
Ok. (released a deep breath) Where to begin?
The grand majority of this story was SO BEAUTIFULLY EXPRESSED. The words TOOK me to The Bottom. I could see and understand the characters. It was REAL. I had sympathy for all of the characters. There was humor, sadness, it was nothing short of amazing.
And then that ending. And then the author's explanation of it.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT. And ranting too. Fair warning.
Ok, the SPOILER ending is that the woman had a son by some mystery guy, then had three other sons OFF OF THE FIRST SON, passing him off as HER HUSBAND. And the author and Levar were all like, she has dignity and she's so brave and I'm like WHAT?!?
No, she's sick and there is NO excuse for that. Switch the genders if you don't believe me. How "brave" and "dignified" would a man be if he fathered three children off of his oldest daughter?
And the whole reason the truth came out was because she didn't want her "oldest" son to go to war in Vietnam. But he wasn't the oldest, he was the second oldest, so yeah, bye-bye to Jr.
And during the explanation, the author was all like, "I didn't want to write it like that, but I had no choice."
BULLSHIT. YOU ARE THE EFFING AUTHOR!! IT WOULD'T HAVE BEEN WRITTEN THAT WAY IF YOU HADN'T WRITTEN IT THAT WAY!! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS!!
Sometimes authors say the characters wrote themselves that way. SCREW THAT HORSE-HOCKEY!! No one had a gun to the author's head and told him to write her that way.
Congratulations, you ruined a perfectly amazing story, with humanity and pathos and realism and quality many other authors would practically kill for.
(slow handclap)
I'm going to go wash my brain with bleach right now. I hope the next Levar Reads is a better pick than this one.
Below is the original review.
I listened to Levar Burton reading this, followed by his chat with the author about the story.
Ok. (released a deep breath) Where to begin?
The grand majority of this story was SO BEAUTIFULLY EXPRESSED. The words TOOK me to The Bottom. I could see and understand the characters. It was REAL. I had sympathy for all of the characters. There was humor, sadness, it was nothing short of amazing.
And then that ending. And then the author's explanation of it.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT. And ranting too. Fair warning.
Ok, the SPOILER ending is that the woman had a son by some mystery guy, then had three other sons OFF OF THE FIRST SON, passing him off as HER HUSBAND. And the author and Levar were all like, she has dignity and she's so brave and I'm like WHAT?!?
No, she's sick and there is NO excuse for that. Switch the genders if you don't believe me. How "brave" and "dignified" would a man be if he fathered three children off of his oldest daughter?
And the whole reason the truth came out was because she didn't want her "oldest" son to go to war in Vietnam. But he wasn't the oldest, he was the second oldest, so yeah, bye-bye to Jr.
And during the explanation, the author was all like, "I didn't want to write it like that, but I had no choice."
BULLSHIT. YOU ARE THE EFFING AUTHOR!! IT WOULD'T HAVE BEEN WRITTEN THAT WAY IF YOU HADN'T WRITTEN IT THAT WAY!! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS!!
Sometimes authors say the characters wrote themselves that way. SCREW THAT HORSE-HOCKEY!! No one had a gun to the author's head and told him to write her that way.
Congratulations, you ruined a perfectly amazing story, with humanity and pathos and realism and quality many other authors would practically kill for.
(slow handclap)
I'm going to go wash my brain with bleach right now. I hope the next Levar Reads is a better pick than this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2017
The first story was best but predictable. The remaining stories were too depressing for my tastes. 3 of 10 stars
October 1, 2017
3.5 stars
When it comes to fiction books, I tend to prefer novels over short story collections, as I like being able to spend a good amount of time getting to know a character(s) and immersing myself into their story. With short stories, especially ones that feature different characters in each story, this becomes a bit of a challenge – it usually takes a bit more effort and concentration on my part to really get into the stories and hopefully connect with the characters. While I would say that overall, I liked almost all of the stories in James McBride’s latest short story collection Five-Carat Soul, there were a few that really stood out to me and that I enjoyed reading more than others. My favorites were definitely the first story about the railroad box car set as well as the series of stories about the Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band.
The author James McBride is a wonderful storyteller and obviously one with heart as well. All of the stories in this collection explored different facets of the human condition in a way that was both fascinating and poignant, with well-timed doses of humor throughout (where appropriate of course). Some of the stories were also fun and imaginative, such as the one where the main characters are zoo animals, with the story narrated primarily by a lion (McBride stated in his Author’s Note that he wrote this particular story after taking his nephews on a trip to the zoo). There was also a pretty significant historical aspect to the stories, as several of them revolve around important figures and/or events from American history, such as the Civil War and General Robert E Lee, Abraham Lincoln and his famous Emancipation Proclamation, World War II military history, etc. -- some of the stories were also spiritual in nature while others were more philosophical and metaphorical. For me though, I enjoyed the “historical” stories the most, as I’m somewhat of a history buff for one, and two, I wasn’t really in the mood for anything too deep or too philosophical at the moment, as I already had a few things going on in my personal life that over-exerted my brain power a bit too much, so in a way, I resented a little having to ponder too deeply with some of the stories. Perhaps if I re-read these stories later on during a different period of my life, I may be able to connect with them a little better.
One of the things that sets McBride’s stories apart from other short story collections is his brilliant use of different, distinctive voices for each story. I’ve read short story collections in the past where it was often difficult to distinguish the narrative voice from one story to another and at times, it caused confusion for me. With McBride’s stories, this was never an issue because each of his narrators had a voice that was uniquely their own; not only that -- the writing style was also very different from one story to another, to the point that, at times, it was easy to forget that each story was written by the same author.
The one issue I had with this book was that some of the stories ended a bit too abruptly, sometimes right in the middle of a significant thought or idea, it seemed, and so it gave me the feeling that the stories were incomplete or that there was perhaps something I missed. There were a few times where I turned the page expecting to read more but instead it cut to the next story already, which left me feeling a little jilted – not to mention the slight effort in having to shift gears mentally after realizing I would be reading a completely different story.
Overall, I liked this short story collection well enough, but didn’t “love” it like I thought I would. Again, it could just be me though, since there are quite a few 4 and 5 star reviews for this collection from other readers, so I suggest checking those out as well. Despite my rating, I would still recommend this collection of stories for its varied and interesting take on different societal issues as well as human behavior.
Received advance reader’s copy from Riverhead Books (Penguin Publishing Group) via Edelweiss
When it comes to fiction books, I tend to prefer novels over short story collections, as I like being able to spend a good amount of time getting to know a character(s) and immersing myself into their story. With short stories, especially ones that feature different characters in each story, this becomes a bit of a challenge – it usually takes a bit more effort and concentration on my part to really get into the stories and hopefully connect with the characters. While I would say that overall, I liked almost all of the stories in James McBride’s latest short story collection Five-Carat Soul, there were a few that really stood out to me and that I enjoyed reading more than others. My favorites were definitely the first story about the railroad box car set as well as the series of stories about the Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band.
The author James McBride is a wonderful storyteller and obviously one with heart as well. All of the stories in this collection explored different facets of the human condition in a way that was both fascinating and poignant, with well-timed doses of humor throughout (where appropriate of course). Some of the stories were also fun and imaginative, such as the one where the main characters are zoo animals, with the story narrated primarily by a lion (McBride stated in his Author’s Note that he wrote this particular story after taking his nephews on a trip to the zoo). There was also a pretty significant historical aspect to the stories, as several of them revolve around important figures and/or events from American history, such as the Civil War and General Robert E Lee, Abraham Lincoln and his famous Emancipation Proclamation, World War II military history, etc. -- some of the stories were also spiritual in nature while others were more philosophical and metaphorical. For me though, I enjoyed the “historical” stories the most, as I’m somewhat of a history buff for one, and two, I wasn’t really in the mood for anything too deep or too philosophical at the moment, as I already had a few things going on in my personal life that over-exerted my brain power a bit too much, so in a way, I resented a little having to ponder too deeply with some of the stories. Perhaps if I re-read these stories later on during a different period of my life, I may be able to connect with them a little better.
One of the things that sets McBride’s stories apart from other short story collections is his brilliant use of different, distinctive voices for each story. I’ve read short story collections in the past where it was often difficult to distinguish the narrative voice from one story to another and at times, it caused confusion for me. With McBride’s stories, this was never an issue because each of his narrators had a voice that was uniquely their own; not only that -- the writing style was also very different from one story to another, to the point that, at times, it was easy to forget that each story was written by the same author.
The one issue I had with this book was that some of the stories ended a bit too abruptly, sometimes right in the middle of a significant thought or idea, it seemed, and so it gave me the feeling that the stories were incomplete or that there was perhaps something I missed. There were a few times where I turned the page expecting to read more but instead it cut to the next story already, which left me feeling a little jilted – not to mention the slight effort in having to shift gears mentally after realizing I would be reading a completely different story.
Overall, I liked this short story collection well enough, but didn’t “love” it like I thought I would. Again, it could just be me though, since there are quite a few 4 and 5 star reviews for this collection from other readers, so I suggest checking those out as well. Despite my rating, I would still recommend this collection of stories for its varied and interesting take on different societal issues as well as human behavior.
Received advance reader’s copy from Riverhead Books (Penguin Publishing Group) via Edelweiss
July 22, 2017
I’m a big fan of James McBride’s writing, so I had high expectations when I dug into the advance copy of FIVE-CARAT SOUL. And I was not disappointed. This is a stellar collection of stories brilliantly told as only McBride can tell them. I enjoyed every page.
November 19, 2017
I fell in love with McBride’s fiction while reading his National Book Award-winning novel, The Good Lord Bird, his tale about the zealot John Brown. This collection of short stories with their humor and humanity are gems in McBride’s distinctive style. There is the story regarding the Five Carat Soul garage funk band and a novella about a lion’s life in a zoo. There is the heartwarming story of the ‘The Christmas Dance’ about a young man seeking the oral history from black veterans of the Italian campaign in WWII. And there is ‘The Moaning Bench’ about a boxer who must fight the devil’s gatekeeper for his soul. Highly recommend.
May 24, 2023
This is a Collection of stories told by members of the Five-Carat Soul Band was never published before. Five strangers bonded because of unexpected circumstances; revealing their upclose, humreous lives. The Trailblazer, James McBride took all of these accounts along with his pioneering
writing skill to actually form a pieace of Art. Simply because James McBride has always shown his readers that he is a True Risk-taker! And, that's only One Reason to love his Work! 🧡
This Collection was very entertaining with reminding me what it felt like sitting on my Parent's porch
in the Summertime 💜✨. Just a Sight to See! lol
The very first story excited me. The Wife kept a huge smile on my face saying...
"He works for The King!" 🙂
▪️ The Goat - "And, maybe that's what made goat run so fast 😢."
▪️ Higher Oder - "It's Troublesome jumping Souls."
** Looking Forward to my next read from this Extraordinary Author, The Color of Water **
writing skill to actually form a pieace of Art. Simply because James McBride has always shown his readers that he is a True Risk-taker! And, that's only One Reason to love his Work! 🧡
This Collection was very entertaining with reminding me what it felt like sitting on my Parent's porch
in the Summertime 💜✨. Just a Sight to See! lol
The very first story excited me. The Wife kept a huge smile on my face saying...
"He works for The King!" 🙂
▪️ The Goat - "And, maybe that's what made goat run so fast 😢."
▪️ Higher Oder - "It's Troublesome jumping Souls."
** Looking Forward to my next read from this Extraordinary Author, The Color of Water **
August 30, 2021
Short stories are not my thing, but until I got to Mr. P & the Wind (a lengthy one with chapters) I thought this was going to be 4 stars. However I didn't care for that one for a number of reasons I won't go into here.
McBride remains one of my favourite authors based on what I have read of his so far, and I would have given 5 stars to at least one of the stories in here, which for me is always very high. Much of this is historical fiction. McBride is great at twist endings (there is at least one in this collection) but some of his stories end very abruptly--personally, I think longer works are his forte. That said, I quite enjoyed three of the stories in here and liked most of them. But that last one, for me, was enough to move the rating down.
McBride remains one of my favourite authors based on what I have read of his so far, and I would have given 5 stars to at least one of the stories in here, which for me is always very high. Much of this is historical fiction. McBride is great at twist endings (there is at least one in this collection) but some of his stories end very abruptly--personally, I think longer works are his forte. That said, I quite enjoyed three of the stories in here and liked most of them. But that last one, for me, was enough to move the rating down.
July 18, 2018
That was a story where I didn't see the ending coming. I'm torn between whether it served the story or was simply for shock value. I don't know how to rate it, so average felt about right. I was hoping the conversation between McBride and Burton at the end of this podcast would clear up why the story went in this direction, but it didn't really. Which is unfortunate.
March 6, 2022
Absolutely spectacular writing. The stories remindede of much of my youth. McBride is truly an American treasure.
November 26, 2017
5.0⭐ "Miss McIntyre Said To Tell You, ‘Get Somebody To Read This Who Aint No Relation To You.’"
* Mild Spoilers*
On this, the bonus installment of Sticher podcast's LeVar Burton Reads, we're gifted with a live reading of Goat by James McBride, followed by a great interview with Burton and McBride.
I feel like everything I could surmise about this story was pretty much in that interview, it was a good one. McBride notes that this is a story about a person with a secret, and how they sort of do their best with what dignity they have. It’s also a story about a helpful teacher who doesn’t know what sort of trial she’s up against, goes in blind, and comes up shaken.
My experience hearing this story was, at first, that I could predict it. At the very least, I was expecting a story about a boy who overcomes the odds to run track and make a way in this world—maybe it was, we were kind of left hanging on that bit. I wondered if it would take a turn for tragedy and tell the story of a family doing their best, only to be squelched by prejudice and circumstance. Maybe it would end in an untimely murder, leaving all of us wondering what could have been.
As it turns out, this is a story about how this nosy kid found some crazy shit out one time. That’s it, that’s the whole story. A new friend you make at work or school could tell you this story in an IHOP over pancakes and coffee, and you’d say, “Get the fuck out of here.” and they’d say, “I shit you not.” I’m a fan of stories with weird ass endings, I was here for this. I like secrets and I like gossip. Maybe its the writer in me looking for characters or what lies beneath, but maybe that’s just a lucky excuse. To quote the story, “Most of us has a desire to mind other folk’s business,”. I say observe the drama, but be not of it.
But, don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t read like a Maury script or anything. This story has a deep wholesomeness to it, and an honesty. And a sadness. It’s human-breathed, and everyone in it is alive and real. This story has a tendency to strike people differently. If you don’t believe me, just skim through the reviews. Even the two star reviews aren’t wrong per se, the story just hit that reader below the belt. Its fair to say that's what the story aims to do—its an uncomfortable, disturbing reveal that leaves the reader staggering, jaw agape, and maybe nauseated. I may have to look into this author some more. Great work.
On a personal note, I’m excited to use this story as a token of all the stories read on LeVar Burton Reads by adding it toward my goodreads challenge, amassing about ten hours of prose. That’s it for LeVar Burton Reads 2017, I give this seasons a perfect five stars, and I hope to see you other LBR reviewers on January 16th, 2018—BYDHTTMWFI <3
* Mild Spoilers*
On this, the bonus installment of Sticher podcast's LeVar Burton Reads, we're gifted with a live reading of Goat by James McBride, followed by a great interview with Burton and McBride.
I feel like everything I could surmise about this story was pretty much in that interview, it was a good one. McBride notes that this is a story about a person with a secret, and how they sort of do their best with what dignity they have. It’s also a story about a helpful teacher who doesn’t know what sort of trial she’s up against, goes in blind, and comes up shaken.
My experience hearing this story was, at first, that I could predict it. At the very least, I was expecting a story about a boy who overcomes the odds to run track and make a way in this world—maybe it was, we were kind of left hanging on that bit. I wondered if it would take a turn for tragedy and tell the story of a family doing their best, only to be squelched by prejudice and circumstance. Maybe it would end in an untimely murder, leaving all of us wondering what could have been.
As it turns out, this is a story about how this nosy kid found some crazy shit out one time. That’s it, that’s the whole story. A new friend you make at work or school could tell you this story in an IHOP over pancakes and coffee, and you’d say, “Get the fuck out of here.” and they’d say, “I shit you not.” I’m a fan of stories with weird ass endings, I was here for this. I like secrets and I like gossip. Maybe its the writer in me looking for characters or what lies beneath, but maybe that’s just a lucky excuse. To quote the story, “Most of us has a desire to mind other folk’s business,”. I say observe the drama, but be not of it.
But, don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t read like a Maury script or anything. This story has a deep wholesomeness to it, and an honesty. And a sadness. It’s human-breathed, and everyone in it is alive and real. This story has a tendency to strike people differently. If you don’t believe me, just skim through the reviews. Even the two star reviews aren’t wrong per se, the story just hit that reader below the belt. Its fair to say that's what the story aims to do—its an uncomfortable, disturbing reveal that leaves the reader staggering, jaw agape, and maybe nauseated. I may have to look into this author some more. Great work.
On a personal note, I’m excited to use this story as a token of all the stories read on LeVar Burton Reads by adding it toward my goodreads challenge, amassing about ten hours of prose. That’s it for LeVar Burton Reads 2017, I give this seasons a perfect five stars, and I hope to see you other LBR reviewers on January 16th, 2018—BYDHTTMWFI <3
July 6, 2017
A new short story collection from the award winning author James McBride. This collection is interesting in that two of the stories stretch over five short chapters. The balance of the book contains standalone stories. The writing is always engaging, inviting and creative with a prose that is artistic. The book starts off with the Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set, a legendary railroad toy set supposedly commissioned by confederate general Robert E. Lee for his son and it was the only one made. It somehow ends up in Queens, NY on top of a refrigerator in the house of a very disinterested Reverend Hart.
This story is narrated in the first person by the Jewish toy dealer Leo Banskoff. This is a great choice to open the collection because it is a hoot. Written with humor, intrigue and mystery, will encourage the reader to want more. And James McBride delivers ever more with the four chapter Five Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band, a group of teens from the Bottom who form a band but rarely ever have gigs and we get a uproarious sendup of the various members lives and situations that could only exist in a place like the Bottom.
There is a five chapter story, Mr. P & the Wind that uses animals in a zoo as the narrators, the first thought is 'oh come on' but McBride makes it work somehow and manages to make you reflect on the possibilities of animal communication. A sure fire bestseller because these stories explore the human, animal, the spirit, heaven, hell and history with a storyteller's fine flair.And the ordering of the stories are just right, starting solid and finishing strong. Do enjoy. Thanks to edelweiss for providing an advanced ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. Book publishes Sept. 26, 2017.
This story is narrated in the first person by the Jewish toy dealer Leo Banskoff. This is a great choice to open the collection because it is a hoot. Written with humor, intrigue and mystery, will encourage the reader to want more. And James McBride delivers ever more with the four chapter Five Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band, a group of teens from the Bottom who form a band but rarely ever have gigs and we get a uproarious sendup of the various members lives and situations that could only exist in a place like the Bottom.
There is a five chapter story, Mr. P & the Wind that uses animals in a zoo as the narrators, the first thought is 'oh come on' but McBride makes it work somehow and manages to make you reflect on the possibilities of animal communication. A sure fire bestseller because these stories explore the human, animal, the spirit, heaven, hell and history with a storyteller's fine flair.And the ordering of the stories are just right, starting solid and finishing strong. Do enjoy. Thanks to edelweiss for providing an advanced ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. Book publishes Sept. 26, 2017.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2021
7 previously unpublished short stories, written by the author of national book award winning The Good Lord Bird (which I loved, BTW).
The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set- a vintage toy dealer experiences the find of his life
The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band - what they see and who they are - a 'boys in the hood story'
Father Abe - a young slave boy gets to see his namesake Abraham Lincoln
The Moaning Bench - the Gatekeeper of Heaven, sarcastic as anything, interviews the dead who either will go to the world of the damned or somehow sneak into heaven
The Christmas Dance -Herb, a PHD candidate from Columbia, attempts to interview survivors of the WWII Christmas Day attack by the Germans in Serchio Valley, Italy
The Fish Man Angel - President Lincoln hears important words
Mr. P & the Wind - life in the zoo as seen by its inhabitants. (My personal favorite)
In the Author's note, McBride shares the following:
"In 1986 I took my two nephews, Dennis and Nash McBride, who were little boys back then, to visit a major zoo in one of America’s big cities. They were so horrified by what they saw, I wrote Mr. P and the Wind for them. The rest of the stories came as they came, over the years, as I traveled over hill and dale and dusty trail, moving through life. As for the particular ache or longing that brought them on . . . well, if I shared every Twitter feed and eye blink and snort and nose pick with every Tom, Dick, and Mary in the world every five seconds, I wouldn’t have a thing left for me."
Thanks very much for sharing what you did, Mr. McBride!!
4 stars
The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set- a vintage toy dealer experiences the find of his life
The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band - what they see and who they are - a 'boys in the hood story'
Father Abe - a young slave boy gets to see his namesake Abraham Lincoln
The Moaning Bench - the Gatekeeper of Heaven, sarcastic as anything, interviews the dead who either will go to the world of the damned or somehow sneak into heaven
The Christmas Dance -Herb, a PHD candidate from Columbia, attempts to interview survivors of the WWII Christmas Day attack by the Germans in Serchio Valley, Italy
The Fish Man Angel - President Lincoln hears important words
Mr. P & the Wind - life in the zoo as seen by its inhabitants. (My personal favorite)
In the Author's note, McBride shares the following:
"In 1986 I took my two nephews, Dennis and Nash McBride, who were little boys back then, to visit a major zoo in one of America’s big cities. They were so horrified by what they saw, I wrote Mr. P and the Wind for them. The rest of the stories came as they came, over the years, as I traveled over hill and dale and dusty trail, moving through life. As for the particular ache or longing that brought them on . . . well, if I shared every Twitter feed and eye blink and snort and nose pick with every Tom, Dick, and Mary in the world every five seconds, I wouldn’t have a thing left for me."
Thanks very much for sharing what you did, Mr. McBride!!
4 stars
June 15, 2021
It made me want to read more books by the author!
October 15, 2020
Herb watched, entranced, as the threesome danced. Carlos danced like a ballet dancer, graceful, holding lovely Lillian Johns like she was a gardenia, guiding her around tenderly and cautiously, spinning a web on the floor. They moved like angels, while the old Judge circled them like an attentive, clumsy, soused guardian[...]
Because that was what Clifford Johns promised his wife. That's what Carlos told Herb before he sent him on his way. That after the smoke had cleared and the Americans had driven the Germans back, he and the Judge had walked down into Sommocolonia and found the body of Clifford Johns in the church tower, along with seven Americans and some forty-three dead German soldiers, and in John's pocket was a letter he was set to mail to his wife, Lillian, which said, "I may not be the greatest dancer in the world, but when I come home, I am going to take you Christmas dancing every single year. We will dance to Count Basie at Minton's on Christmas Eve while he plays 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams.' And at that moment I will be the best dancer in the world, because I am dancing with the best woman in the world. And we will do that every year until we die."
Herb watched them spin across the floor, an odd trio: Carlos leading the way, smooth and suave; Lillian following gracefully; and the old Judge floating alongside, waving his cane and dancing like an angel, clearing the way, narrating, dancing the promise a man made to his wife thirty years before. Dancing in a way that only an angel can make possible. Making good on a promise made so many years ago.
~~The Count Basie band, playing for their fans.
Jacket description: An antique-toy dealer makes two astonishing discoveries. Five poor youngsters in a neighborhood band come to understand that secrets are hidden everywhere. A Ph.D. candidate uncovers a long-hidden promise. A lion embraces the magic of life.
In Five Carat Soul , James McBride uses his extraordinary storytelling gifts to explore what we can learn about ourselves as we struggle to understand one another. the stories dive deep into the gulf between what is true and what we think is true. And each one is proof of McBride's unparalleled talents as a master storyteller and as a virtuoso at creating unforgettable characters, all while imbuing his prose with humor, humanity, and hope.
By turns gripping and inventive, poignant and funny, Five Carat Soul is a profoundly compassionate book from one of the most original authors writing today.
My two cents: The jacket cover didn't lie actually. McBride has given readers a wonderful collection of short stories. There's an abundance of imagination to them, that borders on fantastic--especially "The Moaning Bench" and "Mr. P and the Wind". We're given a lot to think about, if we do more than quickly enjoy the stories. McBride strikes the rare balance of writing morals into his stories without sounding preachy. It's a much more subtle version of Aesop. I was also impressed with how quickly I grew to like the characters in the various stories. Often it's hard to feel invested in short stories...they're over before I can develop an emotional bond with the characters. That wasn't a problem here. And boy can McBride write!! Given 4.5 stars or a rating of "Outstanding". Highly recommended.
Other favorite quotes: "My guess," he said, "given the type of wood construction, composition of the floor, and light angle, is that this was taken in the South sometime in the late 1930s." He based this on several equations using a ruler, a spreadsheet, an astrology table showing the position of the sun and the moon at various times during the year, and a cheap dime store calculator, which he also used to tally up his fee, which was impressive."
~~"He's a big, fat man. I seen him undress at the pool one time, and it took me five minutes to see all of him."
~~"What kind of investigation?" one newsman ask. He got silver hair whipped up so much it look like cotton candy.
"A big investigation," Rev. Jenkins say. "Why, there shouldn't be no bigger investigation than this one. There should be a granddaddy investigation."
"You mean a grand jury investigation," one newsman say.
"Don't put words in my mouth!" Rev say. But then he is quiet a minute, and you can almost hear the machines in his mind clicking and spinning back and forth. He preach a fine sermon, but when he teach Sunday school I could read better than him and I'm only twelve. "You're right," he say. "We want the grandest jury investigation for all of it."
~~"That's even better. I bet Ray-Ray likes that. How's he doing? I ain't seen him in a while."
"He ain't good. He's sick."
"In the hospital?"
"Naw. He's home."
"What's wrong with him?"
"Don't know. Got something wrong with his head. The doctor says something's growing up there."
"Like what? A brain?"
"Very funny Butter. They got to operate when he gets older, to get it out, whatever it is."
~~"It's a simple letter. Takes ten minutes to write."
"I got too many problems to set about writing some old letters," Mrs. Shays said.
"What kind of problems would stop you from getting your boy a good education?" Miss McIntyre asked.
Later on, I think Miss McIntyre was sorry she asked that. She was a young thing and didn't know. Only a fool would ask somebody in The Bottom to spill their guts about their troubles unless they got a year to set and listen.
~~It ain't possible to speak with the Wind. The Wind is different than any other thing on earth. A fella can get hurt trying to talk to the wind. The Wind can hear everything you say, the tiniest strain of your heart, the smallest dot on your soul, ain't no secrets to him. [...] The Wind controls everything, the sun, the trees, the flowers, the water, life itself. The Wind brings all things. Good weather. Bad weather. Sun. Rain. [...] If you have any dream for tomorrow, give it to the Wind. If you have any dream from the past, give it to the wind. But don't never mention the Wind, for nobody comes back from trying to fool with it. You're nothing if the Wind is made at you. You are forever empty. Gone. Forgotten forever.
~~But a funny thing happened to Goat after he got that birth certificate, something bigger than even winning track meets and all. He started getting something he never had before. He got confidence. He started reading books Miss McIntyre got him about other people in track, like a white man named Glenn Cunningham who they said would never walk because his legs was burned up in a fire, but he ran anyway and became a world champion. And tommie Smith, a black man who broke the world record in the Olympics and raised his fist for black people on the medal stand. Goat got interested in them things.
Because that was what Clifford Johns promised his wife. That's what Carlos told Herb before he sent him on his way. That after the smoke had cleared and the Americans had driven the Germans back, he and the Judge had walked down into Sommocolonia and found the body of Clifford Johns in the church tower, along with seven Americans and some forty-three dead German soldiers, and in John's pocket was a letter he was set to mail to his wife, Lillian, which said, "I may not be the greatest dancer in the world, but when I come home, I am going to take you Christmas dancing every single year. We will dance to Count Basie at Minton's on Christmas Eve while he plays 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams.' And at that moment I will be the best dancer in the world, because I am dancing with the best woman in the world. And we will do that every year until we die."
Herb watched them spin across the floor, an odd trio: Carlos leading the way, smooth and suave; Lillian following gracefully; and the old Judge floating alongside, waving his cane and dancing like an angel, clearing the way, narrating, dancing the promise a man made to his wife thirty years before. Dancing in a way that only an angel can make possible. Making good on a promise made so many years ago.
~~The Count Basie band, playing for their fans.
Jacket description: An antique-toy dealer makes two astonishing discoveries. Five poor youngsters in a neighborhood band come to understand that secrets are hidden everywhere. A Ph.D. candidate uncovers a long-hidden promise. A lion embraces the magic of life.
In Five Carat Soul , James McBride uses his extraordinary storytelling gifts to explore what we can learn about ourselves as we struggle to understand one another. the stories dive deep into the gulf between what is true and what we think is true. And each one is proof of McBride's unparalleled talents as a master storyteller and as a virtuoso at creating unforgettable characters, all while imbuing his prose with humor, humanity, and hope.
By turns gripping and inventive, poignant and funny, Five Carat Soul is a profoundly compassionate book from one of the most original authors writing today.
My two cents: The jacket cover didn't lie actually. McBride has given readers a wonderful collection of short stories. There's an abundance of imagination to them, that borders on fantastic--especially "The Moaning Bench" and "Mr. P and the Wind". We're given a lot to think about, if we do more than quickly enjoy the stories. McBride strikes the rare balance of writing morals into his stories without sounding preachy. It's a much more subtle version of Aesop. I was also impressed with how quickly I grew to like the characters in the various stories. Often it's hard to feel invested in short stories...they're over before I can develop an emotional bond with the characters. That wasn't a problem here. And boy can McBride write!! Given 4.5 stars or a rating of "Outstanding". Highly recommended.
Other favorite quotes: "My guess," he said, "given the type of wood construction, composition of the floor, and light angle, is that this was taken in the South sometime in the late 1930s." He based this on several equations using a ruler, a spreadsheet, an astrology table showing the position of the sun and the moon at various times during the year, and a cheap dime store calculator, which he also used to tally up his fee, which was impressive."
~~"He's a big, fat man. I seen him undress at the pool one time, and it took me five minutes to see all of him."
~~"What kind of investigation?" one newsman ask. He got silver hair whipped up so much it look like cotton candy.
"A big investigation," Rev. Jenkins say. "Why, there shouldn't be no bigger investigation than this one. There should be a granddaddy investigation."
"You mean a grand jury investigation," one newsman say.
"Don't put words in my mouth!" Rev say. But then he is quiet a minute, and you can almost hear the machines in his mind clicking and spinning back and forth. He preach a fine sermon, but when he teach Sunday school I could read better than him and I'm only twelve. "You're right," he say. "We want the grandest jury investigation for all of it."
~~"That's even better. I bet Ray-Ray likes that. How's he doing? I ain't seen him in a while."
"He ain't good. He's sick."
"In the hospital?"
"Naw. He's home."
"What's wrong with him?"
"Don't know. Got something wrong with his head. The doctor says something's growing up there."
"Like what? A brain?"
"Very funny Butter. They got to operate when he gets older, to get it out, whatever it is."
~~"It's a simple letter. Takes ten minutes to write."
"I got too many problems to set about writing some old letters," Mrs. Shays said.
"What kind of problems would stop you from getting your boy a good education?" Miss McIntyre asked.
Later on, I think Miss McIntyre was sorry she asked that. She was a young thing and didn't know. Only a fool would ask somebody in The Bottom to spill their guts about their troubles unless they got a year to set and listen.
~~It ain't possible to speak with the Wind. The Wind is different than any other thing on earth. A fella can get hurt trying to talk to the wind. The Wind can hear everything you say, the tiniest strain of your heart, the smallest dot on your soul, ain't no secrets to him. [...] The Wind controls everything, the sun, the trees, the flowers, the water, life itself. The Wind brings all things. Good weather. Bad weather. Sun. Rain. [...] If you have any dream for tomorrow, give it to the Wind. If you have any dream from the past, give it to the wind. But don't never mention the Wind, for nobody comes back from trying to fool with it. You're nothing if the Wind is made at you. You are forever empty. Gone. Forgotten forever.
~~But a funny thing happened to Goat after he got that birth certificate, something bigger than even winning track meets and all. He started getting something he never had before. He got confidence. He started reading books Miss McIntyre got him about other people in track, like a white man named Glenn Cunningham who they said would never walk because his legs was burned up in a fire, but he ran anyway and became a world champion. And tommie Smith, a black man who broke the world record in the Olympics and raised his fist for black people on the medal stand. Goat got interested in them things.
October 16, 2017
Following up a National Book Award Winner can't be an easy task for any author. Luckily, James McBride delivers with FIVE-CARAT SOUL, a collection of short stories. Some stand on their own while others are linked. No matter, with possibly one exception (sorry, "The Moaning Bench") these are stories to savor and enjoy.
Right out of the gate, I laughed out loud in several spots while reading "The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set," the tale of a toy collector and his Great White Whale. The next four selections are linked and follow a pre-teen and his group of friends/bandmates as they struggle to grow up in The Bottom, a lower income neighborhood. And the last four stories, under the title of "Mr. P & The Wind," are narrated by a beleaguered lion living inside a zoo. The "Mr. P" of the title arrives in the first selection and changes the lives of each and every captured animal.
Fans of THE GOOD LORD BIRD will recognize McBride's sly humor and attention to the tiny details that inform his characters. Recommended for short story lovers, especially fans of Tim Gautreaux and Ron Rash.
Right out of the gate, I laughed out loud in several spots while reading "The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set," the tale of a toy collector and his Great White Whale. The next four selections are linked and follow a pre-teen and his group of friends/bandmates as they struggle to grow up in The Bottom, a lower income neighborhood. And the last four stories, under the title of "Mr. P & The Wind," are narrated by a beleaguered lion living inside a zoo. The "Mr. P" of the title arrives in the first selection and changes the lives of each and every captured animal.
Fans of THE GOOD LORD BIRD will recognize McBride's sly humor and attention to the tiny details that inform his characters. Recommended for short story lovers, especially fans of Tim Gautreaux and Ron Rash.
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