Toni Morrison: A Critical Companion (Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers) [Hardcover]

Missy Dehn Kubitschek (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313302650 | ISBN-13: 978-0313302657 | Publication Date: September 30, 1998

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, Toni Morrison is among our most distinguished contemporary novelists. Morrison describes herself as a "black woman novelist," and all her novels deal with African American characters and communities. Exploring the entire cycle of human life in a spiritual context, her novels are also universal in their depiction of families, especially mothers and their children. From her first novel, The Bluest Eye, to her most recent, Paradise, Toni Morrison has explored the African American experience, and by extension, the human experience. Her characters linger in our minds long after we have finished reading the novel. This is the only book-length study to discuss all of Morrison's novels published to date. This study analyzes in turn each of Morrison's novels. It also provides the reader with a complete bibliography of her writings, as well as selected reviews and criticism. Following a biographical chapter on Toni Morrison's life, Kubitschek discusses Morrison's writing in the tradition not only of African American literature but of the great modernist and postmodernist American writers. Each of the following chapters examines an individual novel: The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Tar Baby (1981), Beloved (1987), Jazz (1992), and Paradise (1998). The discussion of each novel features sections on plot and character development, narrative structure, thematic issues, and an alternative critical approach from which to read the novel. Written specifically for high school and college students and general readers, this study illuminates and enriches the reading of Morrison's novels.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This volume provides a clear, basic introduction to Morrison's work and analyses of her novels from The Bluest Eye (1970) to Paradise (1998). The writing is direct, without critical jargon or highly technical language, which makes it accessible to beginning students and general readers. Given Morrison's popularity, this will be a welcome addition to any public, school, or academic library collection.”–ARBA

About the Author

MISSY DEHN KUBITSCHEK is Professor of English, Afro-American Studies, and Women's Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 218 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (September 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313302650
• ISBN-13: 978-0313302657
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,859,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's a book of criticism we _all_ will wish we'd written!, September 9, 1999

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[e-mail] (Portales, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toni Morrison: A Critical Companion (Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers) (Hardcover)

Missy Kubitschek's book does the impossible: she presents a thoughtful, educated, and appreciative reading of Morrison that makes these wonderful novels even more accessible than even good readers could imagine. For teachers who want to provide their students with a superb critical model, here it is. Look at the literate biographical first chapter. The "contexts" chapter moves smoothly and clearly through the critical whitewater of postmodernism, orality, and black identity. The chapters focusing on individual Morrison novels (even the daunting _Paradise_) illuminate Morrison's careful plot and characterization strategies. Best of all, each chapter showcases a particular critical strategy (formalist, historicist, archetypal, "Afro-modernist," etc.) as a lens through which to read the text. This is not only a brilliant teaching strategy, it's delightfully readable. I was surprised and moved all over again at the author's deft discussion of marigolds in _Bluest Eye_ and its subtle evocation of the Demeter/Persephone theme. It's the best discussion I've read of _Paradise_ and the chapter on _Sula_ brought that novel's power home to me years after my first reading of it. This is criticism at its very best.