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. But beyond that, the book is sound, it is orthodox, it is Biblical -- throughout Brooks points the reader to The Book and The One Who inspired it. His aim is to show "that believers may in this life attain unto a well-grounded assurance of their everlasting happiness and blessedness." He then goes on to examine the nature of that assurance, hindrances that keep believers from it, reasons to encourage believers to seek it, and how they can go about it, the difference between true and counterfeit assurance, as well as answering questions about assurance. Examining the doctrine from so many angles, you really feel (and probably do) that you come away from this book having an exhaustive look at the doctrine.

Even though this chapter zeroes in on the kibbutz, Muravchik’s investigation of the rise and demise of the kibbutz leads him to zoom out to attempt to provide an answer to his two “central mysteries,” and, hardly surprising, it comes down to religion. Historians might quibble with his claims as too broad and vague, but nonetheless, I will let Muravchik speak for himself:Lay Vocation before the Reformation: Faith, Reason, and Friendship in the Middle Ages (and Today) July 24, 2023 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. The most consequential of these new possibilities was socialism, although this was not in view when the Revolution began. The stormers of the Bastille had not aimed at a socialist objective, nor did the actors in any of the other increasingly radical moments—journées, they were called—of the next five years. On the contrary, from Mirabeau to Robespierre, the revolutionists, it has often been noted, were mostly of the bourgeoisie, and their key pronunciamentos affirmed the right of property. 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. It is beautifully illustrated, with a helpful ground plan at the beginning of each chapter. The premise is that Europe’s great cathedrals tell the story of Christianity. Specifically, in her introduction, Wells argues that “these great multifaceted buildings were attempts to make the spiritual concrete”, and “represent symbolic voyages between this world and the next”.

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.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.

Aesthetically, this is fantastic. The language sings—the book begs to be read aloud (and I frequently did so, interrupting whatever anyone around me was doing). You can feel the passion, the fervor throughout. A few paragraphs from different chapters illustrate this: the playfulness that disguises serious intent that McBride demonstrated so brilliantly in Deacon King Kong, Joshua Muravchik tells the story of the pursuit of socialism, presenting sketches of the thinkers and leaders who developed the theory, led it to power, and presided over its collapse. He also highlights those trying to revive it today.All of the socialist societies had to adapt capitalist tendencies in their economies to survive, which were completely against the original tenets of the socialism set forth by its original creators,such as Hess and Marx. Even the kibbutz that scholars and socialists have held up as examples that socialism can work (I remember reading about those in school)are starting to break down. The only small social communes that have been able to be relatively successful are those that revolve around religion, which ironically is something that most socialist leaders oppose. 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. 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. 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.