When They Were Boys

from my Good Reads review of When They Were Boys by Larry Kane. I gave it a 3 star rating based on Good Reads system (I liked it.) 

"I say to you, Larry, here in 1965, that the children of 2000 will be listening to the Beatles." Author, journalist, Larry Kane, traveled with the Beatles' "North American tour in 1964, 1965, and part of 1966." In case you missed that, Mr. Kane will repeat the info multiple times throughout his memoir: When They Were Boys: The True Story of the Beatles' Rise to the Top Skip the long introduction. If so inclined, read the introduction later, to refresh your memory. It will give you long summaries of everything you just read. Reading the book is a bit like listening to someone with Alzheimer's disease ~ too much repetition. At one point I thought I had accidentally scrolled back Kindle pages because I knew I already read "this." No, just more repeating of info. Chapters begin with quotes. The quotes are then repeated in the paragraphs. The story is told in Parts. Most Parts begin with a hard to decipher paragraph, describing events of the time period. "The prince walked down the steps," was meaningless to me. Was Kane trying to be cute or clever or sounding like he was under the influence when he wrote such drivel? Was he imitating someone else's style? Who knows. I enjoyed reading most of the book's stories and learned some things about the group I had not heard previously. "Gator Bowl football stadium Jacksonville Florida concert was to be segregated.  Paul said, 'Well , that's rubbish. Tell them we  are not going to player there if Negroes are seated separately." (1964) The others agreed and the stadium was integrated for the show.  Paul also said that "It's all stupid to me," about discrimination. I neglected to record who said they "would never be remembered as a dance band." I liked the Beatles when they first hit the scene because there songs had a good beat and were easy to dance to. I stopped liking them when they went what I thought "all psychedelic." May years later I came to appreciated the Beatles again.  I used to watch Philadelphia news with Larry Kane; did not know he toured and wrote about the Fab Four.  In the U.S. of A. we have Boomers. In Britain the post war population explosion was called the Bulge generation. I had to research winkle-picker and winkle-creeper shoe and Teddy Boy style of clothing.  I had to search videos of Rory Storm (Alan Caldwell,) The Chants (Ankrah) (not many of those), George Formby, and Lonnie Donegan.  I did know the song "When Your Chewing Gum Loses Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight," but did not know the artist or recall ever seeing Lonnie perform all those years ago.  I wonder if the teens of 2022 listen to the Beatles. I doubt if my granddaughter (the one who likes reading) would be interested in When They Were Boys, but it would be a decent start to learning about the mop heads rise to fame.

The Color of Water

 Quote from The Color of Water:

"It took years before I began to accept the fact that the nebulous "white man's world" isn't as free as it looked....that all Jews were not like my grandfather, and that part of me is Jewish too."  

Perhaps the readers who accuse McBride of being anti-semitism saw something in the story that I missed. I did not come away having negative impressions of Hebrews anymore than I came away with negative impressions of blacks. 

The mother herself may have developed hatred for Jewish people due to her father's harsh treatment of her and also being shunned by her family. Even her beloved younger sister slammed the door on her face when she went to her for help after her husband died.

It was a different time. In today's world, there may be segments of the population that frown on interracial marriages, but is no longer illegal in the United States of America. Children of today are growing up in a world where interracial couples are shown on TV, commercials and movies. We also had our first black First Lady and biracial president. 

When Ruth McBride-Jordan was growing up, there were probably a lot more Hebrew's who looked down upon Negroes, than there are today. Especially living in that Jim Crow south. 

The Color of Water

 The Color of Water is A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother written by James McBride. I read a hardcover copy published in 1996. I already reviewed this on Good Reads, and will copy some of that review here later. I may have to edit it, as I had not finished reading it when I rat4ed/reviewed the memoir/autobiography.

The book is written in alternate chapters. One tells the story of Jame's childhood, growing up with a mother who denied being white, just light-skinned. Photographs in the book are very light covered over with gray, and hard to view. I would have preferred photos of the family included in the body of the book, not a few black and white, grayed over pages at start and end of the book.

Early on McBride tells readers his mother looks white, he does not look like her. Hence photos would be useful. Many biracial children, children of children of children born of slaves after rape by slave master, look more white than black. Carol Channing would be considered black by the "one-drop" rule. Lena Horne could have passed for white. 

Did his mother look like those two actresses or more like Marilyn Monroe? She had very dark eyes and dark hair. He did not know that she was Hebrew until he decided to write this book. Hebrews from the Middle East often have dark, kinky type curly hair. We learn, however, that his mother was born in Poland. I think of people from Poland as being very white. So perhaps, to young James, her skin color was that of a typical white person. 

The other chapters are his mother's narrative. He tape recorded his interviews with her after forcing her to tell him her family history. I enjoyed both stories, but found the mother's chapters hard to read due to be published in italics with smaller text. Even with my brightest light and reading glasses, I often was squinting. This is why it took me longer to read than was normal for me for a book of 223 pages ~ more if one reads the acknowledgements which I did. Mostly. The list of thank yous became too long to read all the unknown names.

Many who gave The Color of Water one start reviews at Good Reads slammed the author for being anti-semitic; using every negative stereotype of Jews as there are. I did not find that to be true. The only stereotype that comes quickly to mind is "cheap." So what if  her father was a tightwad or frugal, so are persons of all types, especially immigrants or others who grew up in poverty. It is his mother's recollection that her father was not free with his money.

If she described her aunts in a certain way, that is how she perceived them. It is also likely they were exactly as described. They sat Shiva on her after she married Jame's father. Orthodox Jews may still do that in today's world. Catholics used to be excommunicated. But I do not know if their families considered them dead. I do know many disowned their children for a variety of reasons. Including marrying outside of ethnicity. 

To be continued