Rating: 
Summary: Needs the strong voice of his mother
Review: A compelling story with fascinating insights on what it was like to be an African American in the US army in WWII-- fighting for freedoms some black soldiers had often never experienced in the US. Had shades of Graham Swift's _Waterland_ in the historical asides about the Florentine sculpture Train carried and the origins of the Italian village. Wish there had been a character with the strong voice of his mother in the _Color of Water_, but that might be the difference between fiction and non fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: A gifted writer, a compelling story
Review: A gifted writer tells a dramatic, unusual and moving story in this exceptional first novel from the author of the acclaimed memoir "The Color of Water." Set in Tuscany in 1944 during the U.S. campaign against the Germans, the book focuses on four African-American soldiers from the "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 92nd Division, an all-black division led by white men.After a lack of artillery support (because their white captain refuses to credit their radioed position) decimates their squad, the men are cut off behind German lines. Sam Train, a slow-witted gentle giant from the rural Deep South, rescues an Italian boy while under the liberating delusion that he is invisible. Carrying the boy, Train plunges deeper into the countryside, the head of a Florentine statue tied to his belt in a sack. Against their better judgment, the other three follow, unable to abandon Train to his fate. Bishop Cummings, a cynical, self-styled preacher; Hector Negron, the Puerto Rican radioman and their only Italian speaker, and Lieutenant Aubrey Stamps, smart and ambitious and shakily in charge upon the death of their squad leader; all of them fail in their attempts to reason with Train. He's had enough of war. " 'They gonna put you in jail, Train.'
'I hope so. If I could pay 'em to do it, I would.'" And, as the boy clings to him, growing steadily weaker from internal injuries, Train grows more determined to save the child. A last effort to get back behind their own lines is thwarted by a German patrol and the men find themselves lost in the freezing rain and the harsh terrain of the Tuscan hills until at last they come to a tiny village, surmounted by a war-ravaged church, St. Anna's, where only a madman raves. The men are warily, grudgingly taken in by the remaining half-starved villagers. Meanwhile the Germans' last massive effort is closing in around them. Though Hector succeeds in radioing headquarters, the men are instructed to remain where they are and try to capture a German for intelligence. The boy grows inexplicably better, but still clings to Train, speaking incomprehensible gibberish. The Italians' lives begin to intertwine with the soldiers', sparking friendship, love and distrust. But the outside world cannot be kept at bay for long. The Americans learn of a massacre at St. Anna, brought about by betrayal and the Italian partisans arrive with a German prisoner, seeking the traitor among the villagers. The novel builds to an inevitably bloody climax, but remains true to its core of hope and the miracles, great and small, that fill every life. McBride digresses freely, leading the reader into engrossing stories, some joyful, some tragic - the origin and history of Train's statue head; the bewitching of the old Italian villager, Ludovico, who long ago turned away from the adventure of love for the safety of domestic harmony; the ugly politics of race and the military; the making of a legendary Italian partisan. Each of his characters, including the secondary characters - the villagers, the partisan band, the black officers back at base and their white commanders - has a complex history. McBride's dialogue is pitch perfect, and in it lives all the contradictions, fears, doubts and love that make up a person. His writing is rich with imagery and humor. There is ugliness aplenty, but this novel is more of a celebration of the men of the 92nd than an indictment of the white hierarchy. But most of all it's a story, a dramatic story of men discovering the depths of the human heart, including their own.
Rating:
Summary: A Miracle
Review: Anyone, including online reviewers, who don't "get" this book are spiritually shutdown. This book grabs and rocks the soul. It is a true triumph of the human spirit and quickly captivated my imagination from start to finish..
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Summary: Buffalo soldiers in wartime Italy and a magical story
Review: Based on a historical incident of a massacre in a small village in Tuscany during WW2, James McBride's novel deals with the role of African-American soldiers, sometimes called the Buffalo soldiers, commanded by white southern officers. I expected this story to be about this and to also learn more about the Italian campaign. I was unprepared, however, to find myself in the middle of a tale constructed with magic realism, introducing some very memorable characters, the background for the story being just that - a background. Because of the stupidity of their commanders, four of these soldiers find themselves far behind enemy lines. One of the men is a simple-minded giant who has rescued a small Italian boy from the rubble; one of the men is graduate of Howard University; one is a small-time preacher and outspoken hustler; and one is a Puerto Rican who can speak Italian because he has grown up in an Italian neighborhood. Eventually they find their way to a town that has known its share of sadness. Throughout the book, there are unexplained miracles, such as rabbits that mysteriously multiply under the floorboards of an elderly Italian's bedroom. And there are also some silly editorial mistakes, such as a man of 67 thinking back to his relationship with a lost love 40 years before when he was 17. It made me wonder if the author did this on purpose or whether he just couldn't do the arithmetic. However, the strength of the story did make up for my doubts, and I was swept along with it, especially as it neared the end. Even though it's about war, there are good and bad people on all sides. And, actually, it is a German soldier who performs a vital act of heroism and compassion. A mystical quality pervades everything and the writing is strong and evocative. It put me right there in that village of Tuscany and yet there was something about it that made me know that these people and the village could never really have existed the way they were described. This was such a contrast to the author's former best selling memoir, "The Color of Water" that I had to readjust my thinking and let myself be placed into this magical world he took such a risk to create. I applaud him for his efforts.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a miracle I finished
Review: Did not hold my attention. The story's flash's are confusing, the characters are not developed, and the ending was a HUGE dissapointment. I FORCED myself to finish it. The story opens with a murder. The police find a statue head in the guys apartment, which supposedly is the segway that puts the character back in WWII. BUT...the story isn't even about the statue and turns out to be a stupid prop that the author used seemingly as a last resort because he couldn't think of anything clever to tie the past and present together. Anyway, the story is about a black outfit fighting in Italy during WWI, they pick up this little boy who you think is dead, then he isn't. The soldiers get lost, run across a village and decide to hide from the Germans. One of the villagers has magical rabbits multiplying in his house, which I think is the "MIRACLE", but I am not sure. The Italians partisans find a German, who turns out to be a witness to a mass murder in the village by the Germans. This particular German was there and saved some villagers. Meanwhile they are feeding this little boy chocolate, and he has an imaginary friend. The Germans attack and everyone in the story dies except the little boy and this guy who goes ballistic and commits a murder years later. **That's the beginning of the story** Confused? Good, then you know what it is like to read the book. PLEASE... I can't even go on with this review, I feel like I am wasting my time.
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Summary: Bravo Mr. McBride
Review: He captivated me right from the introduction. I found myself reading parts of the book to people around me. Mr. McBride found a way to involve all the senses. I tasted Sam's cheek, I smelled the rabbits, I saw the battle, I heard the conversations, and I touched the head of the statue. The journey, from cover to cover, was an enjoyable and enlightening experience.
Rating:
Summary: Just Plain Bad
Review: I am shocked that this novel received glowing reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and the majority of Amazon readers, because the first chapter alone should convince anyone that the work would NEVER have been published if the author weren't just coming off the release of a bestseller. (In McBride's case, "The Color of Water".) The writer is able to take a potentially fascinating subject -- the segregated American Army of WWII -- and drain the life out of it, wrapping the story around the fakey "miracle" of a war orphan's trust and love. But the orphan in question, six-year-old Angelo Tornacelli, isn't loving and trusting; he cowers in one particular soldier's arms and screams whenever they're separated. And it also bothered me that this simple-minded soldier, Sam Train, (devoted to saving this precious little white boy's life above his own), is basically reduced to being a mammy figure. Blecch! The plot is unfocused, the writing style redundant, (Lieutenant Stamps' skin is called "chestnut colored" three times), and when McBride does hone in on something, he resorts to cliche. After telling us that the town is "hanging on by a shoestring" and that the real enemy isn't the Germans, but "irony and truth and hypocrisy, that was the real enemy", we're given this about little Angelo: "Shaking and showering each of the soldiers with hugs and cuddling...he melted their hearts." (Too bad Shirley Temple's no longer working; the role sounds perfect for her.) Really, I am at a loss as to why so many critics and readers have responded to this novel. Reading it is a test of patience.
Rating:
Summary: What a treasure
Review: I am so glad that I stumbled on this book. It was lyrically written and completely engages the reader in the lives of all these people. Mostly the 4 Buffalo soldiers, but the Italians as well. I cannot wait to read everything else that this author has written.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful read.
Review: I became fascinated with the Italian campaign after driving a charter bus for a reunion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team who served in the Italian mountains and won more awards than any other American military group in history. The common concern among these aging vets was that in the US no one had ever heard of them, but in Italy (many had just returned from a visit) they were idolized. Since then, I have tuned into this time period whenever it has come up. Parts of the campaign are memorialized in the movie and book, "The English Patient". When the Ghurka fighters were training near my home in Seattle for the Gulf war in 1991, their part of the story was told.
Very little has been written about the Buffalo Soldiers, black soldiers of the segragated US Army, and their part of the campaign. Most of what is out there is very cut and dried military history, (sorry but I find it boring).
In "Miracle at St. Anna" a fine novelist has taken it upon himself to describe the moment. He weaves a wonderful tale. He is not writing a "Band of Brothers". He is not WEB Griffin. He relies on the intelligence of the reader to fill in background. He counts on the readers awareness of the epoch, the situation, the various cultures represented in the book. I could go on and on. I just finished the book last night. The final image in the church where a life is taken, and a life is given was wonderful. Buy this book. Read it. Then read "Up Front" by Bill Mauldin to give you some background on the Italian campaign. Then read "A Walk in the Sun" for the white "grunt's" esperience. Then re-read "Miracle" for the sheer enjoyment.
Thanks, McBride!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful story of a forgotten piece of WW2 history
Review: I had read "The Color of Water" several years ago, and I was curious to see how James McBride would handle fiction. I was not disappointed. McBride brings to life his four soldiers from the Buffalo division, men who were pawns in a white man's war, who tasted freedom of a sort they would not know when they would get back to America--if they would make it alive. The relationship between Train and the little boy was just magical, and the various subplots all made perfect sense. I can't wait for my children (now 9 and 11) to be old enough to read this book!
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