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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Historical Fiction (2023)The new novel from the bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Oprah Book Club-picked, Barack Obama favourite James McBride.
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows.
As these characters' stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town's white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community-heaven and earth-that sustain us.
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows.
As these characters' stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town's white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community-heaven and earth-that sustain us.
380 pages, Hardcover
First published August 8, 2023
About the author
James McBride
22 books5,034 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,613 reviews
September 5, 2023
So this was...not very good.
This is going to be another of those reviews where I open by saying I'm having a hard time articulating exactly what didn't work for me because on the surface it seems like this should be a tour de force. All the "classic novel" ingredients are here. But, having thought about it a bit I think that's the problem. The ingredients are here but nobody put them together very well.
The story, when there is one, begins in the ruins of Chicken Hill, a neighborhood in Pottstown, PA that was once home to a vibrant community of Jews and African Americans who lived and worked together, striving to build lives in a world that was happy to use their labor and ingenuity as long as they remembered their place.
Its the late 70's and following a hurricane most of Chicken Hill has been wiped off the map and in the ruins the police have discovered a man's skeletal remains. But who he is and why his bony hand was clutching a strange necklace is a mystery the police are unable to solve.
Its also a mystery I completely forgot about in this overstuffed, meandering narrative that takes pages and pages and pages to go absolutely nowhere.
James McBride is a beautiful writer. I mean that sincerely. But all the beautiful writing in the world can't make up for the endless parade of side plots and random character introductions that take the place of an actual coherent story.
Nothing happens in this book. It is positively maddening and very, very strange.
We're presented with a mystery; whose is the skeleton uncovered after the storm? Then for about 380 pages we are introduced to character after character after character who all have adorable folksy names and charming, convoluted, "hilarious" backstories that involve star crossed romance, traumatic family histories, or hair brained schemes that resulted in the weird nickname they now have or the strange limp they're walking with and it just goes on and on and on until I thought I was gonna scream. Then at around the 380 page mark McBride suddenly remembered the original plot and wraps everything up.
There's also a startling lack of setting for a book that feels like it should be a very visceral reading experience. The idea of the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is, I think, intended to be sort of the corner stone of the book. Its a store run by a Jewish woman who's sort of the "heart" of Chicken Hill. There's a lot of talk among other characters about how great she is but the reader never actually sees anything great happen. We also never really see the store, or Chicken Hill for that matter. Everything feels weirdly formless and void. There just isn't a strong sense of place at all. I couldn't tell you what anything looked like in this book.
I feel like this book had absolutely no editor or guiding hand of any kind saying "James I love what you're doing but you don't need forty supporting characters and they don't all need their own fifteen page origin stories."
I can't for the life of me work out what everyone else is seeing in this book that I'm missing.
This is going to be another of those reviews where I open by saying I'm having a hard time articulating exactly what didn't work for me because on the surface it seems like this should be a tour de force. All the "classic novel" ingredients are here. But, having thought about it a bit I think that's the problem. The ingredients are here but nobody put them together very well.
The story, when there is one, begins in the ruins of Chicken Hill, a neighborhood in Pottstown, PA that was once home to a vibrant community of Jews and African Americans who lived and worked together, striving to build lives in a world that was happy to use their labor and ingenuity as long as they remembered their place.
Its the late 70's and following a hurricane most of Chicken Hill has been wiped off the map and in the ruins the police have discovered a man's skeletal remains. But who he is and why his bony hand was clutching a strange necklace is a mystery the police are unable to solve.
Its also a mystery I completely forgot about in this overstuffed, meandering narrative that takes pages and pages and pages to go absolutely nowhere.
James McBride is a beautiful writer. I mean that sincerely. But all the beautiful writing in the world can't make up for the endless parade of side plots and random character introductions that take the place of an actual coherent story.
Nothing happens in this book. It is positively maddening and very, very strange.
We're presented with a mystery; whose is the skeleton uncovered after the storm? Then for about 380 pages we are introduced to character after character after character who all have adorable folksy names and charming, convoluted, "hilarious" backstories that involve star crossed romance, traumatic family histories, or hair brained schemes that resulted in the weird nickname they now have or the strange limp they're walking with and it just goes on and on and on until I thought I was gonna scream. Then at around the 380 page mark McBride suddenly remembered the original plot and wraps everything up.
There's also a startling lack of setting for a book that feels like it should be a very visceral reading experience. The idea of the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is, I think, intended to be sort of the corner stone of the book. Its a store run by a Jewish woman who's sort of the "heart" of Chicken Hill. There's a lot of talk among other characters about how great she is but the reader never actually sees anything great happen. We also never really see the store, or Chicken Hill for that matter. Everything feels weirdly formless and void. There just isn't a strong sense of place at all. I couldn't tell you what anything looked like in this book.
I feel like this book had absolutely no editor or guiding hand of any kind saying "James I love what you're doing but you don't need forty supporting characters and they don't all need their own fifteen page origin stories."
I can't for the life of me work out what everyone else is seeing in this book that I'm missing.
September 3, 2023
James McBride is an accomplished saxophonist/jazz musician. I knew that going into the book. (Oh, digression--did you know that he also played with the band, The Remainders? That’s a band with other writers like Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen King, Maya Angelou and several others who played for charity and fundraising). Anyway, I mention his musicianship because I see it all over the pages of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.
This is the first book I’ve read by McBride (definitely more to come), so pardon my schoolgirlish, giggly first crush for the way that his writing lifts me up, how his words and characters opened my heart, only to break it, and then put it back together in a most absolute and tender way. James McBride is a kind, gentle soul, and his writing reflects this—his ability to bring the world together in a novel. He honors humanity. We are all connected, and this author compels that naturally from his characters. Now, how great is that, yeah?
I want to put this in your hands and promise you a magnificent reading experience. It starts off in a shaggy dog kind of way, with an ensemble of characters, several who possess whimsical names like Fatty, Big Soap, Monkey Pants, Dodo. And their names fit flawlessly to their nature. The story starts with a 1972 prologue—a human skeleton is found in an old abandoned well, and then the body of the story begins in 1936 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a place called Chicken Hill, where Jews, immigrants, and Black folks lived side by side, sometimes in harmony, other times in discord, but here’s the thing—the goodness of people, the kindness of their hearts—that is what ultimately rises to the top.
For the story to unfold, there has to be some sinister aspects, too—aren’t we still fighting the fight of ignorance, bigotry, corruption, meanness? But, in the McBride world, well, we also follow the long stretch of yarn as it wends around this way and that, through streets and backyards, dirt roads, onto hills and a shul and a church, through tunnels and a dance hall. And The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.
I don’t need to rehash the plot, but there are a few fun facts about this book worth mentioning in a review. Such as, there are an abundance of characters introduced early on, and then again later on, before the plot actually launches. That’s the shaggy part. We don’t get to the plot too quickly—instead, Mcbride takes his time, builds the characters. They are already leaping off the pages by the time the plot rolls in.
There are subplots, too, but in the end, they all weave their chords and come together. McBride may slow your roll at first, but it’s a winning bonanza of breadth and depth, from the smallest detail to the broadest design. Scenes that seem initially inconsequential become key notes later on.
Early on, we meet the arresting Jewess, Chona. Chona is an unforgettable female protagonist—I’m keeping her in my journal of best. female. characters. ever. She is handicapped with a limp—but her limp doesn’t stop her strength of purpose, her fierce dignity, her bounteous benevolence, her gentle grace, and her consummate integrity. You will fall in love with her, just like Moshe, the theater and dance hall owner, did. Moshe and Chona dared to welcome change and inclusivity to their part of the world.
At this time, in the 1930s, Black people were almost exclusively cast in menial jobs. But Moshe books Black jazz bands to play at his theater, and successfully includes all tribes together at the dance hall, who “frolicked and laughed, dancing as if they were birds enjoying flight for the first time.” Chona runs the grocery store, and extends credit to anyone who can’t afford to pay; she rarely keeps a record of their debt. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store may lose money, but it is rich in goodwill and kindness.
Back to this being like a musical book—a jazzy book. Jazz music conjures that raspy, soulful, edgy flavor, blended from a mix of cultures and harmonies. McBride embraces those diverse, insistent, zingy, soul-stirring rhythms and blues into the narrative threads of his novel. I can hear the swing and the chase, the boogie and the blues, the sounds that go everywhere at once and jelly roll the story within a complex set of fusion and feelings. It’s also just a damned good story!
The narrative pulls you here and there, up and down, and when you meet Dodo, the sweet and barely teenaged deaf kid, your protective instincts will wrap yourself around him and never want to let him go. And, when Dodo meets Monkey Pants—well, this right there—the heart of the novel that will break you in pieces.
At times, I had a wellspring of tears—not just for joy or anguish. Sure, comedy and tragedy fill these pages. But McBride’s natural humanity and gentle nature is the colossal, phenomenal heart of the book. The author steps aside, he doesn’t ever intrude. The core of the narrative are the characters. Their cacophony becomes a coda for living large.
This tale made me want to be better, to do better, to open my eyes to all the missed connections, to fix the broken chords and forge new ones, and seek eternally to strengthen them. We are humanity, we are the essential substance to add love to the world, one modest good deed at a time. That is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.
This is the first book I’ve read by McBride (definitely more to come), so pardon my schoolgirlish, giggly first crush for the way that his writing lifts me up, how his words and characters opened my heart, only to break it, and then put it back together in a most absolute and tender way. James McBride is a kind, gentle soul, and his writing reflects this—his ability to bring the world together in a novel. He honors humanity. We are all connected, and this author compels that naturally from his characters. Now, how great is that, yeah?
I want to put this in your hands and promise you a magnificent reading experience. It starts off in a shaggy dog kind of way, with an ensemble of characters, several who possess whimsical names like Fatty, Big Soap, Monkey Pants, Dodo. And their names fit flawlessly to their nature. The story starts with a 1972 prologue—a human skeleton is found in an old abandoned well, and then the body of the story begins in 1936 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a place called Chicken Hill, where Jews, immigrants, and Black folks lived side by side, sometimes in harmony, other times in discord, but here’s the thing—the goodness of people, the kindness of their hearts—that is what ultimately rises to the top.
For the story to unfold, there has to be some sinister aspects, too—aren’t we still fighting the fight of ignorance, bigotry, corruption, meanness? But, in the McBride world, well, we also follow the long stretch of yarn as it wends around this way and that, through streets and backyards, dirt roads, onto hills and a shul and a church, through tunnels and a dance hall. And The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.
I don’t need to rehash the plot, but there are a few fun facts about this book worth mentioning in a review. Such as, there are an abundance of characters introduced early on, and then again later on, before the plot actually launches. That’s the shaggy part. We don’t get to the plot too quickly—instead, Mcbride takes his time, builds the characters. They are already leaping off the pages by the time the plot rolls in.
There are subplots, too, but in the end, they all weave their chords and come together. McBride may slow your roll at first, but it’s a winning bonanza of breadth and depth, from the smallest detail to the broadest design. Scenes that seem initially inconsequential become key notes later on.
Early on, we meet the arresting Jewess, Chona. Chona is an unforgettable female protagonist—I’m keeping her in my journal of best. female. characters. ever. She is handicapped with a limp—but her limp doesn’t stop her strength of purpose, her fierce dignity, her bounteous benevolence, her gentle grace, and her consummate integrity. You will fall in love with her, just like Moshe, the theater and dance hall owner, did. Moshe and Chona dared to welcome change and inclusivity to their part of the world.
At this time, in the 1930s, Black people were almost exclusively cast in menial jobs. But Moshe books Black jazz bands to play at his theater, and successfully includes all tribes together at the dance hall, who “frolicked and laughed, dancing as if they were birds enjoying flight for the first time.” Chona runs the grocery store, and extends credit to anyone who can’t afford to pay; she rarely keeps a record of their debt. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store may lose money, but it is rich in goodwill and kindness.
Back to this being like a musical book—a jazzy book. Jazz music conjures that raspy, soulful, edgy flavor, blended from a mix of cultures and harmonies. McBride embraces those diverse, insistent, zingy, soul-stirring rhythms and blues into the narrative threads of his novel. I can hear the swing and the chase, the boogie and the blues, the sounds that go everywhere at once and jelly roll the story within a complex set of fusion and feelings. It’s also just a damned good story!
The narrative pulls you here and there, up and down, and when you meet Dodo, the sweet and barely teenaged deaf kid, your protective instincts will wrap yourself around him and never want to let him go. And, when Dodo meets Monkey Pants—well, this right there—the heart of the novel that will break you in pieces.
At times, I had a wellspring of tears—not just for joy or anguish. Sure, comedy and tragedy fill these pages. But McBride’s natural humanity and gentle nature is the colossal, phenomenal heart of the book. The author steps aside, he doesn’t ever intrude. The core of the narrative are the characters. Their cacophony becomes a coda for living large.
This tale made me want to be better, to do better, to open my eyes to all the missed connections, to fix the broken chords and forge new ones, and seek eternally to strengthen them. We are humanity, we are the essential substance to add love to the world, one modest good deed at a time. That is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.
August 17, 2023
At the opening of “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” Pennsylvania state troopers find a skeleton at the bottom of an old well. Such putrid circumstances promise a grim tale, but this is a book by James McBride. If anyone can make those moldy bones dance, it’s him.
Ever since his memoir, “The Color of Water” (1995), became a fixture of American literature, there’s been an element of exuberance bordering on the miraculous in McBride’s work. Vitality thrums through his stories even in the shadows of despair. “The Good Lord Bird,” his irrepressible novel about abolitionist John Brown, rightly won a National Book Award in 2013. And “Deacon King Kong,” about a sprawling cast in and around a Brooklyn housing project, was one of the great joys of 2020.
“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” confirms the abiding strength of McBride’s vernacular narrative. With his eccentric, larger-than-life characters and outrageous scenes of spliced tragedy and comedy, “Dickensian” is not too grand a description for his novels, but the term is ultimately too condescending and too Anglican. The melodrama that McBride spins is wholly his own, steeped in our country’s complex racial tensions and alliances. Surely, the time is not too far distant when we’ll refer to other writers’ hypnotically entertaining stories as McBridean.
His new novel takes place before and during the Depression, in a ramshackle Pennsylvania neighborhood called Chicken Hill, where Jewish immigrants and African Americans cling to the deferred dream of equality in the United States. Moshe Ludlow is a wannabe impresario from Romania married to Chona, a polio survivor with a pronounced limp. He has a radical idea: The goyim won’t like it, but what if he opened his All-American Dance Hall and Theater to Black patrons?
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
Ever since his memoir, “The Color of Water” (1995), became a fixture of American literature, there’s been an element of exuberance bordering on the miraculous in McBride’s work. Vitality thrums through his stories even in the shadows of despair. “The Good Lord Bird,” his irrepressible novel about abolitionist John Brown, rightly won a National Book Award in 2013. And “Deacon King Kong,” about a sprawling cast in and around a Brooklyn housing project, was one of the great joys of 2020.
“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” confirms the abiding strength of McBride’s vernacular narrative. With his eccentric, larger-than-life characters and outrageous scenes of spliced tragedy and comedy, “Dickensian” is not too grand a description for his novels, but the term is ultimately too condescending and too Anglican. The melodrama that McBride spins is wholly his own, steeped in our country’s complex racial tensions and alliances. Surely, the time is not too far distant when we’ll refer to other writers’ hypnotically entertaining stories as McBridean.
His new novel takes place before and during the Depression, in a ramshackle Pennsylvania neighborhood called Chicken Hill, where Jewish immigrants and African Americans cling to the deferred dream of equality in the United States. Moshe Ludlow is a wannabe impresario from Romania married to Chona, a polio survivor with a pronounced limp. He has a radical idea: The goyim won’t like it, but what if he opened his All-American Dance Hall and Theater to Black patrons?
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
January 12, 2024
People keep asking how I can read so many books. They inquire if I skim through them. A few individuals have even asked if I'm an AI. Nope, I'm a real person—a bookworm. Here's my secret: I'm a sleep-reader. Even when I'm sleeping, I keep on reading. Here’s the video proof: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0mgSj...
James McBride, a maestro of the saxophone and jazz, brings his musicality to the pages of "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store."
Now, let me gush about McBride's writing. As a first-time reader of his work, forgive my schoolgirlish enthusiasm for the way his words lift me up, break my heart, and mend it back together. McBride, a kind soul, weaves a novel that honors humanity, showcasing the interconnectedness of characters with natural grace.
Key Points:
Shaggy Dog Start: The book kicks off with a shaggy dog introduction, introducing characters with whimsical names like Fatty, Big Soap, Monkey Pants, and Dodo. McBride takes his time, building characters that leap off the pages before the plot unfolds.
Jazzy Narrative: Like a musical composition, the book embraces the diverse, soul-stirring rhythms and blues of jazz music. The narrative swings, chases, boogies, and blues its way through a complex fusion of feelings, creating a damned good story.
Unforgettable Characters: Meet Chona, a handicapped but formidable female protagonist, and Moshe, the theater owner. They dare to bring change and inclusivity to Chicken Hill, a community of Jews and African Americans in the 1930s, challenging societal norms.
Heartbreaking Moments: Brace yourself for tears, not just for joy or anguish but for the comedy and tragedy that fill the pages. McBride's natural humanity and gentle nature shine as the colossal heart of the book, making it a tale that inspires personal growth.
Overall: "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" is a tale that urges us to be better, do better, and open our eyes to missed connections. Through broken chords and new ones, McBride emphasizes the importance of strengthening the threads of humanity. This cinematic marvel challenges, enlightens, and enriches the soul, leaving an indelible mark on the reader. It's not just a book; it's an experience that will be remembered as one of the defining works of its time.
Bonus Reviews:
Historical Tapestry: Set in the 1930s in Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, the novel weaves a rich tapestry of immigrant Jews and African Americans. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store becomes a melting pot, showcasing the struggles and triumphs of its diverse residents.
Complex Characters: McBride introduces a captivating array of characters, each contributing to the broader narrative. The amalgamation of Moshe, Chona, Dodo, and others creates a community that reflects the complexities of racial, religious, and social identity.
Love and Humanity: While exposing societal flaws, the novel also illuminates the best of humanity. McBride's storytelling shines a harsh light on racial, religious, and social identity, yet he manages to infuse hope and humanity into the narrative. The author's ability to evoke emotion while staying clear-eyed about our complex history is truly commendable.
In a challenge to name an author who highlights the importance of community, love, and compassion more than James McBride, he emerges as a master incapable of writing a bad book. Each page increases your capacity for love, making "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" a must-read.
James McBride, a maestro of the saxophone and jazz, brings his musicality to the pages of "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store."
Now, let me gush about McBride's writing. As a first-time reader of his work, forgive my schoolgirlish enthusiasm for the way his words lift me up, break my heart, and mend it back together. McBride, a kind soul, weaves a novel that honors humanity, showcasing the interconnectedness of characters with natural grace.
Key Points:
Shaggy Dog Start: The book kicks off with a shaggy dog introduction, introducing characters with whimsical names like Fatty, Big Soap, Monkey Pants, and Dodo. McBride takes his time, building characters that leap off the pages before the plot unfolds.
Jazzy Narrative: Like a musical composition, the book embraces the diverse, soul-stirring rhythms and blues of jazz music. The narrative swings, chases, boogies, and blues its way through a complex fusion of feelings, creating a damned good story.
Unforgettable Characters: Meet Chona, a handicapped but formidable female protagonist, and Moshe, the theater owner. They dare to bring change and inclusivity to Chicken Hill, a community of Jews and African Americans in the 1930s, challenging societal norms.
Heartbreaking Moments: Brace yourself for tears, not just for joy or anguish but for the comedy and tragedy that fill the pages. McBride's natural humanity and gentle nature shine as the colossal heart of the book, making it a tale that inspires personal growth.
Overall: "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" is a tale that urges us to be better, do better, and open our eyes to missed connections. Through broken chords and new ones, McBride emphasizes the importance of strengthening the threads of humanity. This cinematic marvel challenges, enlightens, and enriches the soul, leaving an indelible mark on the reader. It's not just a book; it's an experience that will be remembered as one of the defining works of its time.
Bonus Reviews:
Historical Tapestry: Set in the 1930s in Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, the novel weaves a rich tapestry of immigrant Jews and African Americans. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store becomes a melting pot, showcasing the struggles and triumphs of its diverse residents.
Complex Characters: McBride introduces a captivating array of characters, each contributing to the broader narrative. The amalgamation of Moshe, Chona, Dodo, and others creates a community that reflects the complexities of racial, religious, and social identity.
Love and Humanity: While exposing societal flaws, the novel also illuminates the best of humanity. McBride's storytelling shines a harsh light on racial, religious, and social identity, yet he manages to infuse hope and humanity into the narrative. The author's ability to evoke emotion while staying clear-eyed about our complex history is truly commendable.
In a challenge to name an author who highlights the importance of community, love, and compassion more than James McBride, he emerges as a master incapable of writing a bad book. Each page increases your capacity for love, making "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" a must-read.
January 14, 2024
Don’t be fooled that this novel begins with a mystery. It’s 1972 at a construction site in Pennsylvania and a skeleton and a methuselah are found . It’s just so much more than that. Moving back in time to the 1930’s, I found a beautiful story of connections, of community, of caring, of respect, of friendship. But it’s also far from a perfect world in Pottstown , PA where as in life there are physical disabilities, corruption, racism, down right evil . Yet, it doesn’t feel heavy handed in its messaging . It’s even pretty humorous at times, while packing a punch at our society.
There’s quite a cast of characters with complex relationships and it’s sometimes hard to keep track of all of them. The lovely and inimitable Chona, a brave twelve year old deaf, Black boy named Dodo, the clever and sweet Monkey Pants, Nate, Addie, Fatty and Big Soap and so many more - many more favorites, but too many to mention. Black and Jewish, making up the fabric of Chicken Hill section of the town - so different in their culture and beliefs, yet so much the same in their humanity and moral compasses, and their hearts when it came to doing the right thing.
There’s a touching friendship that leads to communication that seemed all but impossible. It will break your heart at first and put it back together. A slow moving story , but so very worth it . At first I took away a half star because I was impatient, but I realized that this story gave me hope that sometimes feels impossible to find in this world. The Epilogue - oh my heart - so perfect and beautifully written. I read it twice and cried.
There’s quite a cast of characters with complex relationships and it’s sometimes hard to keep track of all of them. The lovely and inimitable Chona, a brave twelve year old deaf, Black boy named Dodo, the clever and sweet Monkey Pants, Nate, Addie, Fatty and Big Soap and so many more - many more favorites, but too many to mention. Black and Jewish, making up the fabric of Chicken Hill section of the town - so different in their culture and beliefs, yet so much the same in their humanity and moral compasses, and their hearts when it came to doing the right thing.
There’s a touching friendship that leads to communication that seemed all but impossible. It will break your heart at first and put it back together. A slow moving story , but so very worth it . At first I took away a half star because I was impatient, but I realized that this story gave me hope that sometimes feels impossible to find in this world. The Epilogue - oh my heart - so perfect and beautifully written. I read it twice and cried.
August 5, 2023
My first McBride! I really enjoyed the setting and how he created this little world all the characters inhabited. I wish there had been a focus on fewer characters so we could've gotten to know them a bit more deeply. Or this would have made a great interconnected short story collection. Something about the plotting/pacing took me out of the story from time to time, with the various tangents to try and explain certain issues or provide context to a character's situation. If this had been a bit shorter or had more of a focus in the first 100-150 pages, I would've liked it a bit more. Still an enjoyable read that I'd recommend if you want something that's both heartwarming and hard-hitting.
[Thank you to Riverhead for the early copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Release date: August 8, 2023]
[Thank you to Riverhead for the early copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Release date: August 8, 2023]
August 16, 2023
The story is set in the community of Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania which is a poor neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans live. In this town is The Heaven & Earth Grocery story which is run by kindhearted Chona and her husband Moshe. Moshe also owns a small music theatre in town.
When the white people and a local doctor who is a part of the KKK come looking for a young black boy named Dodo who is unable to hear or speak, to send him to a horrendous state institution, Chona and her friends in the community worked together to keep him safely hidden.
As these Chicken Hill residents' stories coincide it becomes clear how much the people who live on the outside of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town's white establishment played in it, the story shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community--heaven and earth--that sustain us.
The story alternates between the 1930s and the 1970s.
Our communities shape us into who we are as people and In The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, McBride illustrates our vital need as humans for community. I loved the fact the town is almost a character itself in this story and I truly enjoyed discovering all the resident's backstories and how they are all connected. While reading this, I learned a lot about the Jewish community from the 1930s and I also enjoyed learning about how both the black and Jewish residents worked and lived together to create an extraordinary neighborhood.
I listened to the audiobook version which is narrated by the incredible Dominic Hoffman (who previously narrateded Deacon King Kong, Homegoing, The Starless Sea). If you decide to give The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store a try, I highly recommend this format.
By James McBride will be available on August 8 from Riverhead Books.
When the white people and a local doctor who is a part of the KKK come looking for a young black boy named Dodo who is unable to hear or speak, to send him to a horrendous state institution, Chona and her friends in the community worked together to keep him safely hidden.
As these Chicken Hill residents' stories coincide it becomes clear how much the people who live on the outside of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town's white establishment played in it, the story shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community--heaven and earth--that sustain us.
The story alternates between the 1930s and the 1970s.
Our communities shape us into who we are as people and In The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, McBride illustrates our vital need as humans for community. I loved the fact the town is almost a character itself in this story and I truly enjoyed discovering all the resident's backstories and how they are all connected. While reading this, I learned a lot about the Jewish community from the 1930s and I also enjoyed learning about how both the black and Jewish residents worked and lived together to create an extraordinary neighborhood.
I listened to the audiobook version which is narrated by the incredible Dominic Hoffman (who previously narrateded Deacon King Kong, Homegoing, The Starless Sea). If you decide to give The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store a try, I highly recommend this format.
By James McBride will be available on August 8 from Riverhead Books.
September 8, 2023
The story starts out in 1972, Pottstown, PA.. workers are clearing a lot for a townhouse development, and discover a skeleton at the bottom of a well along with a Jewish mezuzah … an elderly Jewish man is questioned .. he still lives on Chicken Hill at the site of the old synagogue. As the investigation begins, Hurricane Agnes comes through and wipes away the crime scene.
Then the story jumps back to 1925..and we meet quite the cast of characters.. many immigrant Jews living alongside many Negroes and Italians who live on and near Chicken Hill.
It’s a novel of race and prejudices, everyone from shoemakers to gangsters… such characters..
This novel is infused with much humor, considering whats going on in and around Chicken Hill.
I loved it!
Then the story jumps back to 1925..and we meet quite the cast of characters.. many immigrant Jews living alongside many Negroes and Italians who live on and near Chicken Hill.
It’s a novel of race and prejudices, everyone from shoemakers to gangsters… such characters..
This novel is infused with much humor, considering whats going on in and around Chicken Hill.
I loved it!
September 12, 2023
Unpopular opinion here, but I just couldn't get into this book. I put it down several times and finishing it felt like a chore. There were too many characters and subplots that went nowhere. At the end this was a mishmash of opportunities that took pages and pages and pages to go absolutely nowhere.
August 29, 2023
When James McBride – a superlative writer who is the son of a Jewish mother and a Black father – explores the uneasy alliance between Blacks and Jews in the 1930s, it’s a cause of celebration.
I went into this book with exalted expectations. I closed the last page strung out and hopeful and filled with admiration. Once again, this talented author has created a community, brought it into focus, and encouraged me to love nearly every one of its flawed characters.
And what an amalgam of characters it is! Right from the start, we meet Jewish theater manager Moshe Ludlow and his outspoken wife Chona, who live above the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store in a neighborhood called Chicken Hill.
Quickly – and partially because of Chona’s largesse – the grocery store becomes a sort of melting pot. There are “colored maids, housekeepers saloon cleaners, factory workers, and bellhops.” Also gangsters, the prejudiced rural doctor who marches proudly with the Ku Klux Klan, recently fired Italian laborers, ex-cons, and crooked politicians. Among all of these is a 12-year-old orphaned boy named Dodo, who is stone deaf after a stove explodes a few years back.
Dodo is a sweet boy and a fast learner. He is also wanted by the state of Pennsylvania, who is determined to shut him away in the most notorious institution around. Chona agrees to take in the boy and hide him in plain sight. But her love and compassion may not be enough.
James McBride’s set-up is not unlike Richard Russo’s in his recent Somebody’s Fool, although the writing style and plot lines are very different. Both create a world of overlapping characters, focusing in on each and then focusing out again to define how they fit into a broader world. McBride’s goal is to illuminate the comradeship and sometimes, the distrust, of people who have been exclude from the Land of Liberty. In doing so, he shines a harsh light on racial, religious and social identity.
The magic of this novel is that while exposing the worst of us, McBride also illuminates the best of us. There is true hope and humanity at work here, even while brutal truths are strongly at play. While McBride is no Pollyanna – some people are just not meant for redemption – he implies that many of us are, and when the chips are down, we will try a little harder.
I loved this book and the author’s ability to wring out emotion while staying clear-eyed about our complex racial and religious history. I’ve come to believe that James McBride is just genetically incapable of writing a bad book. Do yourself a favor and read it.
I went into this book with exalted expectations. I closed the last page strung out and hopeful and filled with admiration. Once again, this talented author has created a community, brought it into focus, and encouraged me to love nearly every one of its flawed characters.
And what an amalgam of characters it is! Right from the start, we meet Jewish theater manager Moshe Ludlow and his outspoken wife Chona, who live above the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store in a neighborhood called Chicken Hill.
Quickly – and partially because of Chona’s largesse – the grocery store becomes a sort of melting pot. There are “colored maids, housekeepers saloon cleaners, factory workers, and bellhops.” Also gangsters, the prejudiced rural doctor who marches proudly with the Ku Klux Klan, recently fired Italian laborers, ex-cons, and crooked politicians. Among all of these is a 12-year-old orphaned boy named Dodo, who is stone deaf after a stove explodes a few years back.
Dodo is a sweet boy and a fast learner. He is also wanted by the state of Pennsylvania, who is determined to shut him away in the most notorious institution around. Chona agrees to take in the boy and hide him in plain sight. But her love and compassion may not be enough.
James McBride’s set-up is not unlike Richard Russo’s in his recent Somebody’s Fool, although the writing style and plot lines are very different. Both create a world of overlapping characters, focusing in on each and then focusing out again to define how they fit into a broader world. McBride’s goal is to illuminate the comradeship and sometimes, the distrust, of people who have been exclude from the Land of Liberty. In doing so, he shines a harsh light on racial, religious and social identity.
The magic of this novel is that while exposing the worst of us, McBride also illuminates the best of us. There is true hope and humanity at work here, even while brutal truths are strongly at play. While McBride is no Pollyanna – some people are just not meant for redemption – he implies that many of us are, and when the chips are down, we will try a little harder.
I loved this book and the author’s ability to wring out emotion while staying clear-eyed about our complex racial and religious history. I’ve come to believe that James McBride is just genetically incapable of writing a bad book. Do yourself a favor and read it.
January 7, 2024
A Christmas present. One of several books my daughter gave me. A cultural study with a character driven plot that's almost undiscernible as you move slowly from one scene to the next. Normally, books like this cause me to slowly rip my hair out in big bloody wads. A process that can be even more painful than a boring book. However, I fortunately found this book to be a pleasant read, so no hair pulling was required.
I did, however, deduct 1.5 points for the overuse of italics. One of my pet peeves. Therefore, my rating is 3.5.
I did, however, deduct 1.5 points for the overuse of italics. One of my pet peeves. Therefore, my rating is 3.5.
November 18, 2023
McBride's new book opens with a mystery, something I didn't know about before opening the page because I try to avoid spoilers. A few chapters later, I had forgotten about the mystery. That's due partly because focus of the plot doesn't remain on it, but more so because I had become consumed with the current characters and there individual storylines. I learned something about myself while reading this book, even if I'd rarely thought about it before: I unknowingly expect a main protagonist, or a continual story arc that builds towards the end. McBride creates differently – and does it well. Each character introduced feels like a main character in those moments, because in the moment they are. The focal point builds, but from many directions instead of a singular line. The goal of the plot is not to simply reveal the mystery found at the beginning, but to know each person. Their unique differences, their struggles, the good given, the bad received – and all of that is here. Even without spending a significant amount of time with an individual character, I found myself devastated at an unexpected loss. Same occurred with the opposite. I was elated for and with those who prevailed, or those who had simply found attachment to another person. That last bit may be what this book is all about.
August 29, 2023
3.5 for me. On one hand I love McBride's writing. But on the other hand, boy does he need a stronger editor. This one had so many digressions that the detours had detours. Frequently I'd have to catch myself with a "now where were we?" And the repetition was over the top. The same stories and anecdotes were brought up over and over again. These characters already knew this stuff so mentioning it more than once for the reader made no sense. But, the basic story of a small community on Chicken Hill, interrace relations, and oh yes a mystery, were excellent! Though I honestly wondered if McBride was going to remember to tell us what happened and solve the mystery!
September 28, 2023
James McBride has created a raucous world filled with energy, frustration and hope. He imagines quirky vibrant characters that cavort through the narrative while evoking a desire to know them more intimately.There is a pervasive aura of controlled chaos that holds the reader in thrall as one becomes immersed in McBride’s version of history, allegory and social vision.
In 1972, State Troopers find a skeleton at the bottom of a well in the impoverished Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Unraveling the conundrum of the long concealed cadaver is the portal that allows the reader to enter a boisterous world. James McBride is the offspring of a black father and a Jewish mother.He is also an accomplished musician. His novel pulsates with the sounds and inflections that embody both his musical inclination and his richly fused cultural heritage.
The heart of the story occurs prior to and during the Depression and gradually unfolds the town’s personal and social tensions that prompted the decades long skeletal entombment.Moshe Ludlow, a Romanian immigrant and struggling showman, courts and marries Chona, an attractive and empathetic woman whose character has been forged by a childhood bout of polio that has left her with a permanent limp. Their Chicken Hill neighborhood is populated by African Americans and first generation Jewish immigrants who live in close proximity in a town where prejudice and animosity coexist with hope and a tenuous belief in American stated ideals.Moshe and Chona are the ethical heartbeat of the neighborhood.They confront adversities and difficulties with resilience, compassion and a touch of ingenuity.
McBride is in no hurry to unravel his story.He introduces a dazzling array of characters from all strata of the town and allows their voices to reveal the tensions of race, xenophobia and cupidity that plagued America in the thirties and still persist today.
The juxtaposition of these elements create a story that is laced with both despair and hope. McBride is unstinting in laying bare the cracks in the vision of the American Dream. At the same time, he offers recurring rays of hope through the actions of his protagonists. Moshe names his theatre The All American Dance Hall and books Black jazz acts that are open to the town’s black residents.Chona runs the grocery store that is housed below their living quarters. The store is called The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and radiates the aspiration that the intersection of community and diverse roots might be a mediating factor that arrests the development of virulent racism and prejudice.
I have assiduously avoided revealing much about the plot and characters in this novel. Instead, I have tried to impart the feel of this work and encourage the reader to delve into the almost Victorian swirl of the characters and circumstances of this bighearted narrative. Ultimately the voices in this novel offer a lilting vision of hope and inclusion that persistently peeks through the baser instincts of mankind.
In 1972, State Troopers find a skeleton at the bottom of a well in the impoverished Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Unraveling the conundrum of the long concealed cadaver is the portal that allows the reader to enter a boisterous world. James McBride is the offspring of a black father and a Jewish mother.He is also an accomplished musician. His novel pulsates with the sounds and inflections that embody both his musical inclination and his richly fused cultural heritage.
The heart of the story occurs prior to and during the Depression and gradually unfolds the town’s personal and social tensions that prompted the decades long skeletal entombment.Moshe Ludlow, a Romanian immigrant and struggling showman, courts and marries Chona, an attractive and empathetic woman whose character has been forged by a childhood bout of polio that has left her with a permanent limp. Their Chicken Hill neighborhood is populated by African Americans and first generation Jewish immigrants who live in close proximity in a town where prejudice and animosity coexist with hope and a tenuous belief in American stated ideals.Moshe and Chona are the ethical heartbeat of the neighborhood.They confront adversities and difficulties with resilience, compassion and a touch of ingenuity.
McBride is in no hurry to unravel his story.He introduces a dazzling array of characters from all strata of the town and allows their voices to reveal the tensions of race, xenophobia and cupidity that plagued America in the thirties and still persist today.
The juxtaposition of these elements create a story that is laced with both despair and hope. McBride is unstinting in laying bare the cracks in the vision of the American Dream. At the same time, he offers recurring rays of hope through the actions of his protagonists. Moshe names his theatre The All American Dance Hall and books Black jazz acts that are open to the town’s black residents.Chona runs the grocery store that is housed below their living quarters. The store is called The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and radiates the aspiration that the intersection of community and diverse roots might be a mediating factor that arrests the development of virulent racism and prejudice.
I have assiduously avoided revealing much about the plot and characters in this novel. Instead, I have tried to impart the feel of this work and encourage the reader to delve into the almost Victorian swirl of the characters and circumstances of this bighearted narrative. Ultimately the voices in this novel offer a lilting vision of hope and inclusion that persistently peeks through the baser instincts of mankind.
December 11, 2023
James McBride is one of those authors that makes me glad I have a day with nothing going on that I can devote entirely to reading his book straight through. That was the case with his Deacon King Kong (DKK) when I was stuck in a hotel lobby during a rainstorm, and that is the way today, which I spent in 1936 in the Chicken Hill section of Pottstown, PA, with Mr. McBride and his cast of characters. His deep knowledge and appreciation of music, as a performer and as a composer, is evident here, showcasing its role in American life and how it plays out in his imagination, adding a layer of richness to the immersive narrative. As with DKK, there is an above the mark collection of humanity, each with distinct personality and involving backstory. His own story includes working with people with disabilities, and he incorporates this factor into the narrative with compassion and humanity. Highly recommended.
I'd like to add that as the year spins to a close, this was my favorite book of the year despite a very diverse, beautiful list to choose from.
I'd like to add that as the year spins to a close, this was my favorite book of the year despite a very diverse, beautiful list to choose from.
June 19, 2023
I challenge anyone to name an author that can highlight the importance of community and love and compassion for your fellow man more than James McBride. Every time I finish one of his books I realize I feel intimately involved with the place and the huge swath of fully realized characters. I walk away from each book with my capacity for love increased tenfold. And he does all of this not only with love but with a quick wit and the ability to plumb the depths of the human condition. He is a master. PERIOD.
December 21, 2023
Rating: 6 stars/Pulitzer level
James McBride is gifted; not only as a storyteller but as a human being. His ability to pluck at our heart strings, inspire and engage with unique yet relatable characters, premise and plot are akin to the most heralded authors in publishing. With this remarkable work, he leaves the reader breathless and in awe along with a sense of hope and possibility.
In my humble opinion, there are few authors that possess these traits, though Toni Morrison, Hemingway and Steinbeck come to mind. This is such a magnificent story it belongs on the short list for a Pulitzer. After finishing it last night, I sat and contemplated for a while thinking of the themes of redemption, love, community, family and humanity. To say it had a evocative impact is a vast understatement.
When a crew of construction workers in 1972 were digging a foundation in Pottstown, PA and discovered a skeleton in an area known as Chicken Hill, its story goes back to the 1930's. This area was a melting pot of immigrants that included Jews, Italians, Polish and others with an area 'designated' for 'coloreds'. Being a black author, McBride is well acquainted with the difficulties people of color faced and illuminates it throughout the narrative.
Its here that Chona Ludlow runs the Heaven and Earth Grocery store that caters to the neighborhood's quirky population assisted by her Romanian husband, Moshe, owner of the area's ONLY integrated dance hall. The Jewish couple's golden hearts and ability to see all as equals puts them in the crosshairs of white Christian America; among them a local doctor and 'discrete' member of the Klan. When word gets out the state is hunting for a young deaf black child nicknamed "Dodo" who Nate Timblin and his wife Addie harbor, the reader is immersed into the struggles the neighborhood residents cope with in an effort to protect what is rightfully theirs. McBride has created one of the most unique cast of characters imaginable, each with back stories that intertwine. Whether psychic, plumber or owner of the local jook joint, they make for a memorable story.
Given the countless elements of the narrative that highlight the heart felt sense of community and how they unite, I feel it important NOT to share plot points, characters and specifics, aka spoilers. This is a book that must be experienced if you appreciate the art of storytelling. If you've yet to read Deacon King Kong or The Good Lord Bird I'd suggest you add these as well.
While writing is an art form and individual tastes vary, hope, love and community are the basis for life itself. Do yourselves a favor and move this to the top of your list. Blessings
12/21/23 update. Just saw it took FIRST PLACE in the Best Books of 2023 on Amazon! And in my opinion it should be short listed for a Pulitzer too!
James McBride is gifted; not only as a storyteller but as a human being. His ability to pluck at our heart strings, inspire and engage with unique yet relatable characters, premise and plot are akin to the most heralded authors in publishing. With this remarkable work, he leaves the reader breathless and in awe along with a sense of hope and possibility.
In my humble opinion, there are few authors that possess these traits, though Toni Morrison, Hemingway and Steinbeck come to mind. This is such a magnificent story it belongs on the short list for a Pulitzer. After finishing it last night, I sat and contemplated for a while thinking of the themes of redemption, love, community, family and humanity. To say it had a evocative impact is a vast understatement.
When a crew of construction workers in 1972 were digging a foundation in Pottstown, PA and discovered a skeleton in an area known as Chicken Hill, its story goes back to the 1930's. This area was a melting pot of immigrants that included Jews, Italians, Polish and others with an area 'designated' for 'coloreds'. Being a black author, McBride is well acquainted with the difficulties people of color faced and illuminates it throughout the narrative.
Its here that Chona Ludlow runs the Heaven and Earth Grocery store that caters to the neighborhood's quirky population assisted by her Romanian husband, Moshe, owner of the area's ONLY integrated dance hall. The Jewish couple's golden hearts and ability to see all as equals puts them in the crosshairs of white Christian America; among them a local doctor and 'discrete' member of the Klan. When word gets out the state is hunting for a young deaf black child nicknamed "Dodo" who Nate Timblin and his wife Addie harbor, the reader is immersed into the struggles the neighborhood residents cope with in an effort to protect what is rightfully theirs. McBride has created one of the most unique cast of characters imaginable, each with back stories that intertwine. Whether psychic, plumber or owner of the local jook joint, they make for a memorable story.
Given the countless elements of the narrative that highlight the heart felt sense of community and how they unite, I feel it important NOT to share plot points, characters and specifics, aka spoilers. This is a book that must be experienced if you appreciate the art of storytelling. If you've yet to read Deacon King Kong or The Good Lord Bird I'd suggest you add these as well.
While writing is an art form and individual tastes vary, hope, love and community are the basis for life itself. Do yourselves a favor and move this to the top of your list. Blessings
12/21/23 update. Just saw it took FIRST PLACE in the Best Books of 2023 on Amazon! And in my opinion it should be short listed for a Pulitzer too!
March 19, 2023
A brilliant depiction of communities at the crossroads of American life in the 1930s. The stories that feed the central driving mystery of an unknown skeleton found in a well in the 1970s are a glorious cacophony of lives lived and relationships depicted that rings true in every sense. McBride’s ability to conjure these lives in full is a beautiful feat to behold. It was not a book that I could easily put down, but also one that I wanted to continue indefinitely. I look forward to revisiting these characters and Chicken Hill again, and know that there are nuances that remain uncovered after a first read that will be a joy to find.
August 20, 2023
8/18/23 - The no spoilers tl;dr:
While I didn't hate The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, I did finish it feeling frustrated with McBride's plotting and prose- and there was a lot more "she breasted boobily down the stairs"-style characterization than I expected. It read like a first draft that desperately needed an editor to say, "please trust your reader to make meaning out of your story, you don't need to bludgeon them over the head with Significance."
ETA acknowledgement that McBride's analysis of race and class, and his puncturing of the myth of The American Dream is absolutely on point; but that he shoehorns it in at the expense of the story he ostensibly wants to tell.
Spoilers after this point:
Plot ⚫½⭐/⭐⭐
TH&EGS begins with a prologue framing device set in 1972*, almost forty years after the rest of the narrative. It sets up a mystery that unspools over the rest of the book. While this creates some suspense, it is overcome by the shaggy dog nature of the narrative, with practically every character introduction and interaction veering into tangents and backstory. While there is pleasure in these detours, they sap momentum and create drag, as does the extremely bloated cast of characters. McBride tries to set up a villain, the "Son of Man", but has so little room for him that his vile actions and sudden death have almost no impact.
Another source of drag on the plot is the messy structure of the climax, with elements of the action jumping back and forwards in time without indication of what was happening when. I have no problem with non-sequential storytelling, but if it's done haphazardly like this it just ends up a mess and drains the juice out of the mystery set up by the prologue. In general the pacing was a mess.
Finally, Part I of the book makes a feint towards a gentle magical realism that would have been much more interesting to see play out through the rest of the story. Unfortunately the rest of the story plays out in a heavy-handed and mechanistic fashion, yoked to the constraints of the prologue.
*Fwiw it bugged me that the prologue was written so conversationally, and that there was no further attention paid to who the conversants might have been.
Prose ⚫⚫/⭐⭐
Too clever by half, straining for profundity, and loaded with clunky period slang (I never have seen the phrase "the who-shot-John business" once before, but now I've read it enough to last me the rest of my life), the quality of the writing was the biggest disappointment for me. It was clear from the start that McBride was eager for this to be A Great American Novel full of Meaningful Important Observations, and wow did it get old quick.
Chona's death at the end of Part II was the worst offender: the genuinely meaningful death of a character I had developed a real affection for was used as a springboard to launch a diatribe against how the kids these days are addicted to their cell phones! I shit you not.
It also is the single worst sentence I've ever read in any book: "In death, Chona had smelled not a hot dog but the future, a future in which devices that fit in one's pocket and went zip, zap, and zilch delivered a danger far more seductive and powerful than any hot dog, a device that children of the future will clamor for and become addicted to, a device that fed them their oppression disguised as free thought."
WTF?!??
People ⚫⭐/⭐⭐
The real shame of the desperate grasping towards allegorical depth is that many of the (admittedly overstuffed) cast are delightful, and well developed. I would have loved a book in which they were set free to actually be in a story, rather than act out a morality tale about The Truth About America. It baffled me that Malachi, who was set up in the first portion of the book to be a pivotal character disappears abruptly and almost entirely; although honestly most of the characters simply fade away from the narrative as soon as they're done pushing their block of plot into place.
Place ⚫⭐/⭐⭐
There's some good description, but McBride's Pottstown never cohered in my mind. And his limitations really drag down the climactic sequence of events, in which unfortunately much hinges on the very specific physical placement of plumbing pipes.
Ptwist ⚫⚫/⭐⭐
The mystery set up by the prologue is no mystery at all: the skeleton found in the well is exactly who you think it's going to be (Doc Roberts) after you've read thirty pages. The emancipation of Dodo from Pennhurst is the definition of an anticlimax. And the entire book drags terribly from how desperately McBride wants it to be meaningful. Roberts' death, like Chona's, sends us into a tangle of run-on sentences declaiming school shootings and yacht owners.
It's just so heavy-handed, and it's a damn shame because McBride has great observations and analysis about race and class, and he's morally correct about the nature of America, and its history and future. But this book fails as a novel precisely because he does not trust his readers to reach those conclusions without cramming them into his story in 24pt bold italicized font.
************************************************
8/14/23 - ¼ through, and so far it's not grabbing me. Maybe it'll jump into gear once all the place-setting is through.
There are some moments that make me wonder about the editing process - for instance the town doctor/KKK member gets described two or three times in almost the same words a couple of chapters apart, and some of the discursive descriptive paragraphs feel forced. Also some internal consistency questions, esp about the date of death of one of the mother of one character. If the book is an homage to an oral storytelling tradition, fine, but if so it wasn't made clear.
8/16/23 - ETA: Just finished Part II, and dropping my review down to two stars for the moment because I'm flabbergasted and disappointed that McBride decided to play the death of one of the central characters as a diatribe against smartphones. Just incredible. A moment arises with genuine emotional impact and truth, and all of a sudden I'm reading about how capitalism and pop culture erase history, and that the kids these days are all addicted to the Internet?!? JFC
8/17/23 - ETA: Finished it, will try to write a full review tomorrow. I wish I could give it three stars, as it's not quite the failure that two stars indicates, but it's absolutely a clunker. Badly needed an editor, who could have told McBride to trust his readers enough not to beat them over the head with explanations of his allegories; and that the climax is a dog's breakfast of a mess.
While I didn't hate The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, I did finish it feeling frustrated with McBride's plotting and prose- and there was a lot more "she breasted boobily down the stairs"-style characterization than I expected. It read like a first draft that desperately needed an editor to say, "please trust your reader to make meaning out of your story, you don't need to bludgeon them over the head with Significance."
ETA acknowledgement that McBride's analysis of race and class, and his puncturing of the myth of The American Dream is absolutely on point; but that he shoehorns it in at the expense of the story he ostensibly wants to tell.
Spoilers after this point:
Plot ⚫½⭐/⭐⭐
TH&EGS begins with a prologue framing device set in 1972*, almost forty years after the rest of the narrative. It sets up a mystery that unspools over the rest of the book. While this creates some suspense, it is overcome by the shaggy dog nature of the narrative, with practically every character introduction and interaction veering into tangents and backstory. While there is pleasure in these detours, they sap momentum and create drag, as does the extremely bloated cast of characters. McBride tries to set up a villain, the "Son of Man", but has so little room for him that his vile actions and sudden death have almost no impact.
Another source of drag on the plot is the messy structure of the climax, with elements of the action jumping back and forwards in time without indication of what was happening when. I have no problem with non-sequential storytelling, but if it's done haphazardly like this it just ends up a mess and drains the juice out of the mystery set up by the prologue. In general the pacing was a mess.
Finally, Part I of the book makes a feint towards a gentle magical realism that would have been much more interesting to see play out through the rest of the story. Unfortunately the rest of the story plays out in a heavy-handed and mechanistic fashion, yoked to the constraints of the prologue.
*Fwiw it bugged me that the prologue was written so conversationally, and that there was no further attention paid to who the conversants might have been.
Prose ⚫⚫/⭐⭐
Too clever by half, straining for profundity, and loaded with clunky period slang (I never have seen the phrase "the who-shot-John business" once before, but now I've read it enough to last me the rest of my life), the quality of the writing was the biggest disappointment for me. It was clear from the start that McBride was eager for this to be A Great American Novel full of Meaningful Important Observations, and wow did it get old quick.
Chona's death at the end of Part II was the worst offender: the genuinely meaningful death of a character I had developed a real affection for was used as a springboard to launch a diatribe against how the kids these days are addicted to their cell phones! I shit you not.
It also is the single worst sentence I've ever read in any book: "In death, Chona had smelled not a hot dog but the future, a future in which devices that fit in one's pocket and went zip, zap, and zilch delivered a danger far more seductive and powerful than any hot dog, a device that children of the future will clamor for and become addicted to, a device that fed them their oppression disguised as free thought."
WTF?!??
People ⚫⭐/⭐⭐
The real shame of the desperate grasping towards allegorical depth is that many of the (admittedly overstuffed) cast are delightful, and well developed. I would have loved a book in which they were set free to actually be in a story, rather than act out a morality tale about The Truth About America. It baffled me that Malachi, who was set up in the first portion of the book to be a pivotal character disappears abruptly and almost entirely; although honestly most of the characters simply fade away from the narrative as soon as they're done pushing their block of plot into place.
Place ⚫⭐/⭐⭐
There's some good description, but McBride's Pottstown never cohered in my mind. And his limitations really drag down the climactic sequence of events, in which unfortunately much hinges on the very specific physical placement of plumbing pipes.
Ptwist ⚫⚫/⭐⭐
The mystery set up by the prologue is no mystery at all: the skeleton found in the well is exactly who you think it's going to be (Doc Roberts) after you've read thirty pages. The emancipation of Dodo from Pennhurst is the definition of an anticlimax. And the entire book drags terribly from how desperately McBride wants it to be meaningful. Roberts' death, like Chona's, sends us into a tangle of run-on sentences declaiming school shootings and yacht owners.
It's just so heavy-handed, and it's a damn shame because McBride has great observations and analysis about race and class, and he's morally correct about the nature of America, and its history and future. But this book fails as a novel precisely because he does not trust his readers to reach those conclusions without cramming them into his story in 24pt bold italicized font.
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8/14/23 - ¼ through, and so far it's not grabbing me. Maybe it'll jump into gear once all the place-setting is through.
There are some moments that make me wonder about the editing process - for instance the town doctor/KKK member gets described two or three times in almost the same words a couple of chapters apart, and some of the discursive descriptive paragraphs feel forced. Also some internal consistency questions, esp about the date of death of one of the mother of one character. If the book is an homage to an oral storytelling tradition, fine, but if so it wasn't made clear.
8/16/23 - ETA: Just finished Part II, and dropping my review down to two stars for the moment because I'm flabbergasted and disappointed that McBride decided to play the death of one of the central characters as a diatribe against smartphones. Just incredible. A moment arises with genuine emotional impact and truth, and all of a sudden I'm reading about how capitalism and pop culture erase history, and that the kids these days are all addicted to the Internet?!? JFC
8/17/23 - ETA: Finished it, will try to write a full review tomorrow. I wish I could give it three stars, as it's not quite the failure that two stars indicates, but it's absolutely a clunker. Badly needed an editor, who could have told McBride to trust his readers enough not to beat them over the head with explanations of his allegories; and that the climax is a dog's breakfast of a mess.
August 26, 2023
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store refers to the store created by Chona Ludlow, a Jewish woman living with her husband (Moshe) in a neighborhood called Chicken Hill by its residents. Chona is a remarkable woman. Born with a club foot and having had polio as a kid, she is determined not to let her disabilities stop her in any way. Moshe, a Romanian immigrant, owns a nightclub in the heart of the community and decides to integrate it, opening it up to his Black neighbors. The time frame is the mid 1930's.
The story is very much about the community of Chicken Hill. Readers will get to know both the Jewish residents and the Black residents in the neighborhood. As a reader, I enjoyed their colorful nicknames as well as their personalities (ie., Fatty, Big Soap, Paper, Monkeypants, etc.). Many of the Jewish characters are European immigrants and speak Yiddish. I found my small knowledge of Yiddish to be helpful here.
An important theme in the novel is how disability affects people. The author had worked in a camp for disabled children throughout his college years. The camp's director was an inspiration for the book.
Chicken Hill's residents join forces to help a 12 year old boy (nicknamed Dodo). Dodo is deaf and the city officials want to institutionalize him in a notoriously bad reformatory. It is a heart-warming story that gives the reader much to think about. Bravo, Mr. McBride!
Trigger Alert: There are two instances of sexual assault.
The story is very much about the community of Chicken Hill. Readers will get to know both the Jewish residents and the Black residents in the neighborhood. As a reader, I enjoyed their colorful nicknames as well as their personalities (ie., Fatty, Big Soap, Paper, Monkeypants, etc.). Many of the Jewish characters are European immigrants and speak Yiddish. I found my small knowledge of Yiddish to be helpful here.
An important theme in the novel is how disability affects people. The author had worked in a camp for disabled children throughout his college years. The camp's director was an inspiration for the book.
Chicken Hill's residents join forces to help a 12 year old boy (nicknamed Dodo). Dodo is deaf and the city officials want to institutionalize him in a notoriously bad reformatory. It is a heart-warming story that gives the reader much to think about. Bravo, Mr. McBride!
Trigger Alert: There are two instances of sexual assault.
October 3, 2023
Lots to recommend the book -- very strong plot, great characters with memorable names (Monkey Pants, Dodo, Paper, Miggy, Fatty) and for whom the author has true fondness,
• biting social commentary (including occasional breaches of the fourth wall: Doc, fully drunk, howled out his joy. “It’s all a dream!” he shouted. “This great America. This great land of opportunity. Give us your poor. Your tired. Your weak. And we will give them jobs. And homes. And businesses! We will make them men. And women. And they will”—he burped loudly—“replace us!” -- the book is set in the late 1920s/early 1930s; the language might be modern but the sentiment has been in the US for a very long time: Madison Grant's "The Passing of the Great Race" was published in 1916),
• the playfulness that disguises serious intent that McBride demonstrated so brilliantly in Deacon King Kong,
• moments of magical realism,
• humor both biting ('To the white folks of Pottstown, Doc Roberts was the kind of man whose bespeckled countenance belonged on breakfast cereal boxes. The kind, gentle country doc. Friend to all, deliverer of babies, a wonderful man, a Presbyterian. But for the black folks of the Hill, Doc was a running joke: “Why go see Doc Roberts and pay to die?” He was a special fright for black children of the Hill, center of a thousand nightmares shepherded by the exhausted mothers who needed sleep. “If you don’t shut your eyes right now, I’m taking you to Doc Roberts,” which cut off the giggles and cackling immediately.' and broadly vernacular: "Watching Monkey Pants give a lecture was like watching an octopus trying to shake hands with a flamethrower." Or: "Bernice had the kind of face that would make a man wire home for money,"
and many other things I could praise but that would in the end simply repeat what others have written.
One thing that stood out for me -- and it took a while for me to see it, which makes me wonder if it's entirely in my imagination -- is the way Good and Evil are mirrored reflections of one another in the book:
• Where Heaven and Earth are there must surely be Hell (Pennhurst State School and Hospital in this case, a historically real and infernal place finally shut down in the late '80s)
• The moral center of the book -- a Jewish woman named Chona who walks with a limp as a result of polio -- finds a dark shadow in the despicable racist Doc Roberts who limps because of a foot deformity
• A major character in the book with a mysterious and violent past has the last name Love -- which is apt in his case -- and a hateful, sadistic character with beautiful features calls himself Son of Man.
Musical counterpoints perhaps? McBride is himself a musician and musical historian, and music plays a prominent role in the book, so the conceit is not impossible.
Something else: The book opens in the 70s with the discovery of a body in an old well. From here the story goes back in time several decades to the thriving multiracial community of Chicken Hill. The stage is filled with a large number of characters both noble and vile, White, Black, Jewish, Italian, and all the subcategories therein. The plot centers, as all good plots must do, on a fight against injustice. There's music and comic set pieces, action, moral commentary (in particular, Who is truly American? What do we owe one another? McBride lays it out for us in a conversation between a Jewish married couple: Moshe pointed out the kitchen window toward Pottstown below. “Down the hill is America!” But Chona was adamant. “America is here.” “This area is poor. Which we are not. It is Negro. Which we are not. We are doing well!” “Because we serve, you see? That is what we do. The Talmud says it. We must serve.”). We see the connections between groups, the relationships that bind them and the frictions that divide them. It's a rich, well-populated world McBride creates, a world that is animated at least in part by his own family story. And in the end (which is the book's beginning) it will all vanish. The community that used to occupy that Pennsylvania ground -- the Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown (both also real) -- was erased in 1972 by Hurricane Agnes. With one or two exceptions, Moshe, Bernice, Fatty, Nate, and the rest are gone; all that's left is the skeleton at the bottom of a well and a mezuzah. Justifiably or not, it brought to my mind Shakespeare's "Tempest" or "Midsummer Night's Dream." Prospero's final words came to me (sans the mezuzah, of course) : Our revels now are ended. These our actors... were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.
The narrative arc of McBride's novel may echo Shakespeare's comedies but history sets them apart. We bear the weight of this history in our own time, although many would wish it otherwise, and its presence is everywhere in "Heaven & Earth." One scene in particular captures what I mean. When one of the characters suddenly dies, we see a line of well-wishers quietly filing down a hospital corridor to offer condolences to her husband. It's a touching moment, to be sure, but then the fourth wall is once again pierced -- with palpable anger. The mourners, we are told, are "moving... into a future of American nothing."
It was a future they couldn't quite see, where the richness of all they had brought to the great land of promise would one day be zapped into nothing, the glorious tapestry of their history boiled down to a series of ten-second TV commercials, empty holidays, and sports games filled with the patriotic fluff of red, white, and blue, the celebrants cheering the accompanying dazzle without any idea of the horrible struggles and proud pasts of their forebears who had made their lives so easy.
There is laughter in "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store," and life's vitality, love, sacrifice, hardship, a contest between good and evil, jazz, salsa, even klezmer, secret pasts, nuance, and hints of magic. But the towers of the Chicken Hill's "revels" don't melt into airy dreams. Instead, they direct us to where we are now, where we are the actors -- a fact the author does not let us ignore.
• biting social commentary (including occasional breaches of the fourth wall: Doc, fully drunk, howled out his joy. “It’s all a dream!” he shouted. “This great America. This great land of opportunity. Give us your poor. Your tired. Your weak. And we will give them jobs. And homes. And businesses! We will make them men. And women. And they will”—he burped loudly—“replace us!” -- the book is set in the late 1920s/early 1930s; the language might be modern but the sentiment has been in the US for a very long time: Madison Grant's "The Passing of the Great Race" was published in 1916),
• the playfulness that disguises serious intent that McBride demonstrated so brilliantly in Deacon King Kong,
• moments of magical realism,
• humor both biting ('To the white folks of Pottstown, Doc Roberts was the kind of man whose bespeckled countenance belonged on breakfast cereal boxes. The kind, gentle country doc. Friend to all, deliverer of babies, a wonderful man, a Presbyterian. But for the black folks of the Hill, Doc was a running joke: “Why go see Doc Roberts and pay to die?” He was a special fright for black children of the Hill, center of a thousand nightmares shepherded by the exhausted mothers who needed sleep. “If you don’t shut your eyes right now, I’m taking you to Doc Roberts,” which cut off the giggles and cackling immediately.' and broadly vernacular: "Watching Monkey Pants give a lecture was like watching an octopus trying to shake hands with a flamethrower." Or: "Bernice had the kind of face that would make a man wire home for money,"
and many other things I could praise but that would in the end simply repeat what others have written.
One thing that stood out for me -- and it took a while for me to see it, which makes me wonder if it's entirely in my imagination -- is the way Good and Evil are mirrored reflections of one another in the book:
• Where Heaven and Earth are there must surely be Hell (Pennhurst State School and Hospital in this case, a historically real and infernal place finally shut down in the late '80s)
• The moral center of the book -- a Jewish woman named Chona who walks with a limp as a result of polio -- finds a dark shadow in the despicable racist Doc Roberts who limps because of a foot deformity
• A major character in the book with a mysterious and violent past has the last name Love -- which is apt in his case -- and a hateful, sadistic character with beautiful features calls himself Son of Man.
Musical counterpoints perhaps? McBride is himself a musician and musical historian, and music plays a prominent role in the book, so the conceit is not impossible.
Something else: The book opens in the 70s with the discovery of a body in an old well. From here the story goes back in time several decades to the thriving multiracial community of Chicken Hill. The stage is filled with a large number of characters both noble and vile, White, Black, Jewish, Italian, and all the subcategories therein. The plot centers, as all good plots must do, on a fight against injustice. There's music and comic set pieces, action, moral commentary (in particular, Who is truly American? What do we owe one another? McBride lays it out for us in a conversation between a Jewish married couple: Moshe pointed out the kitchen window toward Pottstown below. “Down the hill is America!” But Chona was adamant. “America is here.” “This area is poor. Which we are not. It is Negro. Which we are not. We are doing well!” “Because we serve, you see? That is what we do. The Talmud says it. We must serve.”). We see the connections between groups, the relationships that bind them and the frictions that divide them. It's a rich, well-populated world McBride creates, a world that is animated at least in part by his own family story. And in the end (which is the book's beginning) it will all vanish. The community that used to occupy that Pennsylvania ground -- the Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown (both also real) -- was erased in 1972 by Hurricane Agnes. With one or two exceptions, Moshe, Bernice, Fatty, Nate, and the rest are gone; all that's left is the skeleton at the bottom of a well and a mezuzah. Justifiably or not, it brought to my mind Shakespeare's "Tempest" or "Midsummer Night's Dream." Prospero's final words came to me (sans the mezuzah, of course) : Our revels now are ended. These our actors... were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.
The narrative arc of McBride's novel may echo Shakespeare's comedies but history sets them apart. We bear the weight of this history in our own time, although many would wish it otherwise, and its presence is everywhere in "Heaven & Earth." One scene in particular captures what I mean. When one of the characters suddenly dies, we see a line of well-wishers quietly filing down a hospital corridor to offer condolences to her husband. It's a touching moment, to be sure, but then the fourth wall is once again pierced -- with palpable anger. The mourners, we are told, are "moving... into a future of American nothing."
It was a future they couldn't quite see, where the richness of all they had brought to the great land of promise would one day be zapped into nothing, the glorious tapestry of their history boiled down to a series of ten-second TV commercials, empty holidays, and sports games filled with the patriotic fluff of red, white, and blue, the celebrants cheering the accompanying dazzle without any idea of the horrible struggles and proud pasts of their forebears who had made their lives so easy.
There is laughter in "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store," and life's vitality, love, sacrifice, hardship, a contest between good and evil, jazz, salsa, even klezmer, secret pasts, nuance, and hints of magic. But the towers of the Chicken Hill's "revels" don't melt into airy dreams. Instead, they direct us to where we are now, where we are the actors -- a fact the author does not let us ignore.
September 4, 2023
First of all, I loved Deacon King Kong:it was a lyrical,heartwarming, sad and tight story, with wonderful characters and one of the best love stories I´ve ever read. I wanted to read more McBride, and I´ve been consistently disappointed.
This one is, sadly, a mess. I don´t mind books with lots of characters, and going on tangents, spinning stories from stories,in fact, I love them...if they serve a purpose and "weigh" the main line. Here, there are mostly lost opportunities,with sketches of potentially great characters who disappear (Malachi),nuanced ones who are never fleshed out (Chona, Moshe,Bernice,and others),and I could go on.
The plot is all over the place,bland, predictable,ending with a whimper.
At some point, the author starts lecturing readers (something I can´t stand);how can the death scene of one of the best characters ,which could-should- have been poignant,morph into a diatribe against cell phones,decades into the future???
There´s none of the wry humour, charming and flawed characters which were Deacon´s magic here.
He doesn´t get the Jewish community right, and even the Itaians and African Americans are caricatures.Shame on you, McBride, you can do SO much better.Such a pity.
This one is, sadly, a mess. I don´t mind books with lots of characters, and going on tangents, spinning stories from stories,in fact, I love them...if they serve a purpose and "weigh" the main line. Here, there are mostly lost opportunities,with sketches of potentially great characters who disappear (Malachi),nuanced ones who are never fleshed out (Chona, Moshe,Bernice,and others),and I could go on.
The plot is all over the place,bland, predictable,ending with a whimper.
At some point, the author starts lecturing readers (something I can´t stand);how can the death scene of one of the best characters ,which could-should- have been poignant,morph into a diatribe against cell phones,decades into the future???
There´s none of the wry humour, charming and flawed characters which were Deacon´s magic here.
He doesn´t get the Jewish community right, and even the Itaians and African Americans are caricatures.Shame on you, McBride, you can do SO much better.Such a pity.
September 5, 2023
I love reading character-driven historical fiction, especially when multiple cultures mingle. This book is so well written, the story, characters, and feelings invoked were exactly what I needed. Others will agree, it is a wonderful book about Jews and Blacks living in the same community. I listened to the audiobook and might experience it again to be sure to capture all the nuances.
October 2, 2023
In a small town in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1972, the police find a body at the bottom of a well. No one seems to know who it is or how it got there. But someone living on Chicken Hill, a neighborhood where Jews and African Americans live side-by-side, might just hold the secret. The time then flashes back to 1936, when Moshe ran a successful theater with a visionary mix of musical artists, and his wife Chona ran the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. Nate, the theater’s caretaker, might also know something. In the meantime, Chona hides Dodo, Nate’s nephew with a hearing impairment, from state workers who want to send him to a terrifying institution upstate.
The descriptions of the day are spot-on. That, unfortunately, is to say that the racism, discrimination, and violence of 1930s America experienced by the nation’s undermined populations is terribly clear. Anyone with a sense of history will have seen this coming, but witnessing the characters living poverty and fear will still cause sadness and heartbreak.
That said, the pride and strength shine through, too. None of McBride’s characters portray themselves as victims. No, they plan, scheme, and collaborate to help each other, and in a real-life, gritty way. I loved Chona, doling out credit to her neighbors, writing letters to the newspaper to decry the Klan marches in her town, and protecting young Dodo. How Nate’s character unfolds, slowly, carefully, dangerously, was wonderfully done. Even the “Lowgod” community, murky and spooky as it is, was interesting to watch. There was power in those gatherings, and the coming together of two different groups was smooth and clever, done with mystery novel style.
All the plotlines merged expertly. I wasn’t sure how Moshe would work with Nate, and how Nate would gather with some shady characters, but it gets resolved well toward the end. There were some action scenes that were just riveting, even a little frightening. Dodo’s special relationship with “Monkey Pants” was tremendously imaginative. The ending was not quite what I expected, but still good. And the twist with the body in the well? Huh. Not bad.
The language can be hard to follow sometimes. There’s an “oracle” here that has a meeting with Nate and others, and I really had to read slowly, since her words were so choppy and disjointed. The lingo was very Depression-era. It reminded me of Cannery Row or another John Steinbeck novel: the jargon takes time to digest. But this was not as jargon-y, easier to understand.
It’s a little dark and scary, with maybe a trigger warning for assault. There’s a violence and force to his writing, so be ready for that. But there was enough tenderness here, particularly with Moshe and Chona, to make this a complete story, a well-constructed historical tale. Very good, and worth a read!
The descriptions of the day are spot-on. That, unfortunately, is to say that the racism, discrimination, and violence of 1930s America experienced by the nation’s undermined populations is terribly clear. Anyone with a sense of history will have seen this coming, but witnessing the characters living poverty and fear will still cause sadness and heartbreak.
That said, the pride and strength shine through, too. None of McBride’s characters portray themselves as victims. No, they plan, scheme, and collaborate to help each other, and in a real-life, gritty way. I loved Chona, doling out credit to her neighbors, writing letters to the newspaper to decry the Klan marches in her town, and protecting young Dodo. How Nate’s character unfolds, slowly, carefully, dangerously, was wonderfully done. Even the “Lowgod” community, murky and spooky as it is, was interesting to watch. There was power in those gatherings, and the coming together of two different groups was smooth and clever, done with mystery novel style.
All the plotlines merged expertly. I wasn’t sure how Moshe would work with Nate, and how Nate would gather with some shady characters, but it gets resolved well toward the end. There were some action scenes that were just riveting, even a little frightening. Dodo’s special relationship with “Monkey Pants” was tremendously imaginative. The ending was not quite what I expected, but still good. And the twist with the body in the well? Huh. Not bad.
The language can be hard to follow sometimes. There’s an “oracle” here that has a meeting with Nate and others, and I really had to read slowly, since her words were so choppy and disjointed. The lingo was very Depression-era. It reminded me of Cannery Row or another John Steinbeck novel: the jargon takes time to digest. But this was not as jargon-y, easier to understand.
It’s a little dark and scary, with maybe a trigger warning for assault. There’s a violence and force to his writing, so be ready for that. But there was enough tenderness here, particularly with Moshe and Chona, to make this a complete story, a well-constructed historical tale. Very good, and worth a read!
September 28, 2023
James McBride is a master storyteller and I felt fully invested in the characters of this wonderful book. He describes Bernice as having "the kind of face that made a man wire home for money," that made me chortle.
Then, my favorite description is of Webb who "roared with laughter and enthusiasm as he played egging his band on from the rear with his masterful drumming the thunderous band shaking the floor with rip roaring waves of gorgeous sound. That man, Moshe decided, was a joy maker."
I truly enjoyed the creative use of language, as this book is wonderfully written, and a joy to listen to - when I wasn't crying for one or other of the characters! Referring to predicting whether or not someone would survive their illness: "She won't swallow her birth certificate any time soon." Another phrase I found interesting is the Yiddish curse "may onions grow in your navel." I don't remember hearing that one before.
Finally, of Dodo (my favorite of all the characters): "God opened up your heart when he closed your ears, boy. You got a whole community in there." Dodo never forgot a gesture of kindness at a time when he was at his most afraid, indeed their "reaching out in friendship and solidarity shone in his memory like a bright shining star."
Narrator Dominic Hoffman performs the story wonderfully well.
Then, my favorite description is of Webb who "roared with laughter and enthusiasm as he played egging his band on from the rear with his masterful drumming the thunderous band shaking the floor with rip roaring waves of gorgeous sound. That man, Moshe decided, was a joy maker."
I truly enjoyed the creative use of language, as this book is wonderfully written, and a joy to listen to - when I wasn't crying for one or other of the characters! Referring to predicting whether or not someone would survive their illness: "She won't swallow her birth certificate any time soon." Another phrase I found interesting is the Yiddish curse "may onions grow in your navel." I don't remember hearing that one before.
Finally, of Dodo (my favorite of all the characters): "God opened up your heart when he closed your ears, boy. You got a whole community in there." Dodo never forgot a gesture of kindness at a time when he was at his most afraid, indeed their "reaching out in friendship and solidarity shone in his memory like a bright shining star."
Narrator Dominic Hoffman performs the story wonderfully well.
September 1, 2023
I considered not finishing this book numerous times, but I was very invested in Dodo’s story and wanted to find out more about Bernice. Instead, there were a lot of side characters introduced. Ultimately, I felt the book suffered from too many characters and subplots.
October 23, 2023
This book starts with a mystery: a skeleton has been discovered at the bottom of a well. However, the resolution of the mystery is not the sole purpose of the book. It is, rather, a framework for the author to examine a multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multi-generational neighborhood that finds a way to come together in pursuit of a common goal despite their differences.
McBride is a skilled storyteller, weaving together threads of interest into a cohesive whole. In this case we have a Jewish couple who protect a black child, a black couple who works with them, and a cast of supporting characters. It covers a wide expanse of time. The body is discovered in 1972 and flashbacks take place in the 1930s, providing the history of the town and context for the circumstances.
It is easy to feel for the main characters, especially the disabled child that authorities want to place in an institution. The author employs humor and a depth of understanding of human nature. I found it entertaining and well-crafted. For me, the only minor drawback is that it probably could have been a bit shorter and focused more on the main characters. It is a slowly building narrative that highlights the value of community.
McBride is a skilled storyteller, weaving together threads of interest into a cohesive whole. In this case we have a Jewish couple who protect a black child, a black couple who works with them, and a cast of supporting characters. It covers a wide expanse of time. The body is discovered in 1972 and flashbacks take place in the 1930s, providing the history of the town and context for the circumstances.
It is easy to feel for the main characters, especially the disabled child that authorities want to place in an institution. The author employs humor and a depth of understanding of human nature. I found it entertaining and well-crafted. For me, the only minor drawback is that it probably could have been a bit shorter and focused more on the main characters. It is a slowly building narrative that highlights the value of community.
August 13, 2023
May be McBride's best novel.
September 27, 2023
It's a joy to read a novel by James McBride, because he so clearly loves the wide universe of characters that he creates --a universe of original, complicated, loving, scared, brash, generous, deeply religious, happily law-skirting, and (occasionally) nasty people from almost all backgrounds below the level of super-privileged. They are so alive, that many of them even have richly detailed back stories. Plus, McBride sure knows how to write a page-turning plot.
In the case of this novel, "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store," the plot takes a while to catch fire, but once it does it explodes like a July 4 evening of fireworks.
Essentially, the story focuses on two families who live in the hardscrabble Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown PA in the 1930s. (Pottstown is technically less than 2 hours from Philadelphia, but in actuality it's a world away from the tourist Philadelphia of the Liberty Bell and "Rocky.") Moshe and Chona Ludlow are a Jewish couple who run the eponymous, money-losing grocery store along with a more successful theater that caters to both their Jewish and Black neighbors. Their employees--and best friends-- are a Black couple, Nate and Addie Timblin. The plot is set in motion when state officials come searching for Addie's orphaned, deaf, 12-year-old nephew, Dodo, whom the childless Nate and Addie have taken in. The officials want to put Dodo in the notorious Pennhurst asylum.
To call Pennhurst "Dickensian" would be a compliment.
Denizens of Chicken Hill and nearby Hemlock Row hatch a complicated plan to rescue Dodo, based in part on the way a local oracle cuts a slice of sweet potato pie. (Don't ask; just read the book.) However, this plan interferes and interweaves with at least three other schemes of small-time lawbreaking in their neighborhood, involving water pipes, revenge, bribery, mobsters, a Jewish ritual bath, and two rival white power-brokers. Also an infected toe.
If this plot description sounds too cute, that's because it's the main failing of this novel (and McBride's books in general). The characters can be too lovable, too oddball, and their dialect-dialogue verges on annoying. Also, there are too many of them to keep track of. Who is Paper and what's her relationship to Fatty? And what's Fatty's relationship to Rusty vs. his relationship to Soap?
But hang in for the ride. This book will restore your faith in humanity.
In the case of this novel, "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store," the plot takes a while to catch fire, but once it does it explodes like a July 4 evening of fireworks.
Essentially, the story focuses on two families who live in the hardscrabble Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown PA in the 1930s. (Pottstown is technically less than 2 hours from Philadelphia, but in actuality it's a world away from the tourist Philadelphia of the Liberty Bell and "Rocky.") Moshe and Chona Ludlow are a Jewish couple who run the eponymous, money-losing grocery store along with a more successful theater that caters to both their Jewish and Black neighbors. Their employees--and best friends-- are a Black couple, Nate and Addie Timblin. The plot is set in motion when state officials come searching for Addie's orphaned, deaf, 12-year-old nephew, Dodo, whom the childless Nate and Addie have taken in. The officials want to put Dodo in the notorious Pennhurst asylum.
To call Pennhurst "Dickensian" would be a compliment.
Denizens of Chicken Hill and nearby Hemlock Row hatch a complicated plan to rescue Dodo, based in part on the way a local oracle cuts a slice of sweet potato pie. (Don't ask; just read the book.) However, this plan interferes and interweaves with at least three other schemes of small-time lawbreaking in their neighborhood, involving water pipes, revenge, bribery, mobsters, a Jewish ritual bath, and two rival white power-brokers. Also an infected toe.
If this plot description sounds too cute, that's because it's the main failing of this novel (and McBride's books in general). The characters can be too lovable, too oddball, and their dialect-dialogue verges on annoying. Also, there are too many of them to keep track of. Who is Paper and what's her relationship to Fatty? And what's Fatty's relationship to Rusty vs. his relationship to Soap?
But hang in for the ride. This book will restore your faith in humanity.
Shelved as 'dnf'
October 16, 2023Not for me.
Despite a good start, with each chapter, another new character and I'm losing touch with the story if there is one and my mind wanders to something more engaging or interesting. From reviews addressing my issue, it isn't going to change and there are others waiting for my copy and other books waiting for me.
Despite a good start, with each chapter, another new character and I'm losing touch with the story if there is one and my mind wanders to something more engaging or interesting. From reviews addressing my issue, it isn't going to change and there are others waiting for my copy and other books waiting for me.
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