From the Pulitzer-prize winning novel by Alice Walker, and the moving film by Steven Spielberg, has come a soul-stirring new musical and landmark Broadway hit that has critics and audiences on their feet. A musical that evokes a unique emotional response, it tracks the story of its heroine, Celie, from sexual abuse by her stepfather to physical abuse by her husband to "a roof-raising story of triumph." This gorgeously producedcompanion volume revisits what is so powerful about the show. The Color Purple: A Memory Book has the look and feel of a beautiful antique scrapbook, a keepsake for those who have experienced the musical and want to be able to experience its soaring emotions at any time, or who want to share Celie's journey with their loved ones. But it will also be a memory book of the road The Color Purple took — from Alice Walker's memories right through to the sketches for the costumes and sets, from the cast's own struggles to the entire libretto, all of which have given Celie's against-the-odds triumph new life. Revealing, poignant, and stunning, The Color Purple: A Memory Book is a must-have book for anyone moved by Celie's story.
Lise Funderburg was born in 1959 and educated at Reed College and Columbia University. Her latest book is a memoir and social history called "Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home" (Free Press), which is a contemplation of life, death, and barbecue. Her first book was a collection of oral histories, "Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk about Race and Identity," the first to explore the lives of adult children of black-white unions. She has been a regular contributor since 2001 to O, the Oprah Magazine and has written a book about the Tony-winning musical "The Color Purple." Her articles, essays and reviews have appeared widely in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Nation, Salon, Newsday, and other publications.
Funderburg won a 2003 Nonfiction Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and has twice been selected as the writer-in-residence at The James Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. She has received grants from the Dick Goldensohn Fund for Journalists, The Leeway Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation. Funderburg has been awarded residencies at The Blue Mountain Center and the MacDowell Colony. She teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers and lives in Philadelphia with her husband, John Howard, as well as an ancient beagle called Beagle.
