This book has more characters than the Chinese alphabet. What a ride! Who knew that so many characters could be fully formed, all within 350 pages? A great story and a great read. ( )

I finished listening to this book just prior to taking off on holiday and I forgot to write my review of it. So, I apologize if this isn't a very full discussion of the book.

All of the book takes place in a small area of New York City. Cause Houses is a housing project in Brooklyn. I've never actually been in a housing project but the representations I have seen on TV shows make me feel that they aren't a spot where people willingly go to live. And yet, once there, most people try to get along and even try to improve things. Sportcoat is an older man who drinks too much and is trying to come to terms with his wife's recent passing. Is it because of the drink that he sees her and talks to her? Maybe or maybe she really is manifesting herself from the grave to try to help Sportcoat. But Sportcoat is also a deacon of the local church and coached the young boys in baseball. One of them named Deems was a potential star in the sport; he turned instead to drug dealing. He runs a local gang that hangs out in the area in front of the Cause Houses buildings. One day, Sportcoat takes an old gun and fires it at Deems. Being very drunk and not a good shot, Sportcoat only nicks Deems' ear. That's just one of the dramas that are played out over the course of the book. I couldn't possibly, even if I could remember them all, summarize all that goes on in the book. Suffice it to say that James McBride makes the characters in the book leap off the pages or the soundwaves in the case of an audiobook, such as my chosen method of experiencing this novel I may have forgotten much of the details of this book but I doubt I'll ever forget Sportcoat or his buddies Rufus and Hot Sausage or Sister Veronica Gee or Elefante, the Italian shipping merchant whose warehouse is right next to the church. And then there's the mysterious angel painted on the end of the church around whom all the action swirls. Such interesting, interesting characters!

I can't finish this review without praising Dominic Hoffman who narrates the audiobook. I see I've listened to one other book that he narrated, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and I commented then what a great narrator he was. I'm going to have to see if I can find any more books that he has narrated. ( )

After I got over the idea of the 1960's being shelved as historical fiction, I really enjoyed this book. It's a gorgeous portrait of a community, often funny and charming, dealing with some serious topics but never reveling in them. The narrative is expertly constructed, the story-telling engaging, and there was even a little mystery for us to solve along with the protagonists. ( )

Funny, heartwarming, good story. ( )

With lovable characters with Runyonesque names like Sportcoat, Hot Sausage, Bum Bum, Sister Gee, The Elephant and The Governor, loving vivid memories of a time and place the author clearly knew so well, plot twists, twinkly-eyed humor, themes of loss and redemption, and long-assed sentences that made me hold my breath in awe, this was one of those books I was really sad to finish. ( )