Chloe Wofford (1931- ), better known as Toni Morrison, is an American author famous for writing “Beloved” (1987), “The Bluest Eye” (1970), “Song of Solomon” (1977), “Paradise” (1998) and other novels. She turns 83 today.
In 1993 she became the first (and so far only) Black American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In 2006 the New York Times said “Beloved” was the greatest novel of the past 25 years. Some say “Jazz” (1992) is almost as good!
In 1998 Oprah made “Beloved” into a film and starred in it. She picked four of Morrison’s books for her book club (1996-2010):
- October 1996: Song of Solomon
- January 1998: Paradise
- April 2000: The Bluest Eye
- April 2002: Sula
On this blog, “Song of Solomon” and “Jazz” made the list of the 20 books to take to a desert island.
Morrison, a welder’s daughter, grew up in Lorain, Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie west of Cleveland. Lorain is the town where “The Bluest Eye” takes place. She loved to read. She loved Tolstoy and Austen. Her father told her black folktales. She became Catholic at 12, taking the baptismal name of Anthony, which in time became Toni.
At high school she was good at Latin. At Howard University she got a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Classics. She went to Cornell to get her master’s degree, where she studied the works of William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf.
In 1955 she went to Houston to teach at Texas Southern University. In 1957 she returned to Howard, this time to teach. Among her students were Stokely Carmichael and Claude Brown. At Howard she met Howard Morrison, a Jamaican architect. They married and had two sons.
In 1963 she joined writers groups at Howard and “dashed off” what would become “The Bluest Eye”. Soon after, she left Howard, divorced her husband and moved to New York, where she became a book editor, a writer and a single mother. By not going to parties she found time for all three.
As an editor at Random House she worked with the likes of Angela Davis (on her autobiography), Muhammad Ali and Toni Cade Bambara. She edited “The Black Book” (1974), a classic book of black history. As editor she helped to bring black literature into mainstream American culture.
In 1983 she left Random House and went on to teach at the State University of New York (SUNY) and, later, Princeton.
From reading African authors, like Bessie Head and Chinua Achebe, Morrison learned that she could write about black people for black people, that she did not have to concern herself with the white gaze. They showed her how. If whites liked her books, great. If they did not, so what? She never gave up her day job, so she never became dependent on the white demographic buying her books.
That allowed her to write about stuff white people did not care about, like black self-hatred (“The Bluest Eye”) and the psychology of slavery (“Beloved”). It allowed real, fleshed-out black characters to take centre stage.
– Abagond, 2014.
See also:
I started off with “The Bluest Eye” that was an easy read, next “Sula” I thought it was dark and kind of twisted but I enjoyed it for the most part. “Tar Baby” that was a clunky and at times I was distracted and it didn’t hold my attention, but I got through it. “Song Of Solomon” I stayed up all night reading, I loved that story about Milkman Dead, and all the other characters. I hated “Beloved” I watched the film instead. Never read “Jazz.” I can say with all honesty I have these books on my bookshelf. Now to try and tackled Zadie Smith “White Teeth”.
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*tackle*
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I was not aware that she wrote “Beloved.” I love that movie but am now interested in reading the book. @ Mary do you mind telling me what about the book you did not like?
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@ Sharina: It was just hard for me to read. I found it tedious. I find her challenging. That book was just so frustrating for me. I remember chunking it against the wall, I was so frustrated.
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Thanks for posting this Abagond. I had t read some of her books for a women in literature class, and some African American studies classes. Sula and The Bluest Eye stood out the most to me.
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Thanks for you input Mary. I like dark twisted books and movies so perhaps “sula” will be my cup of tea.
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I don’t know much about her, from your post she sounds like she is a very successful writer. I have thought about writing myself. I wonder if it’s harder or easier nowadays to be successful, being that everything is digital and you can be your own publisher. Not saying Dr. Morrison fits into that category, thinking out loud. The only thing I would say about your post, that I find interesting, is you said she didn’t care if white people bought or liked her work. Personally I think that is hard to believe. Because I’m sure she would find it rewarding if different cultures can relate. Now if you said white people like Donald Trump or black people like Don King(I realize there are more don trumps than don kings) who cares if they like it.
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Happy Birthday, Toni Morrison.
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[…] In 1993 she became the first (and so far only) Black American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.In 2006 the New York Timessaid “Beloved” was the greatest novel of the past 25 years. Some say “Jazz” (1992) is almost as good!In 1998 Oprah made “Beloved” into a film and starred in it. She picked four of Morrison’s books for her book club (1996-2010):October 1996: Song of SolomonJanuary 1998: ParadiseApril 2000: The Bluest EyeApril 2002: Sula…From reading African authors, like Bessie Head and Chinua Achebe, Morrison learned that she could write about black people for black people, that she did not have to concern herself with the white gaze. They showed her how. If whites liked her books, great. If they did not, so what? She never gave up her day job, so she never became dependent on the white demographic buying her books.That allowed her to write about stuff white people did not care about, like black self-hatred (“The Bluest Eye”) and the psychology of slavery (“Beloved”). It allowed real, fleshed-out black characters to take centre stage. […]
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Need to put the “Black Book” in my Amazon cart.
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Love Ms. Morrison, always have! “Song of Solomon” is most definitely one of my faves too, that and “Mama” by Terry McMillan (amongst a few others) are in my book, totally “Island-worthy”.
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Awesome! She and Zora Neale Hurston are two of my most favorite female writers!
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Also to add, Their Eyes Was Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston was so beautifully written. The Bluest Eye was so incredibly sad but a good read!
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“The Bluest Eye” was an “easy read”? Ok..
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Sula
The most misunderstood villian in all of literature.
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Nice bio about a giant who will be remembered for centuries to come. Except for the part about not caring what white people think about her writing. See her essay called “Home” about that. I think the book it’s in is called The House that Race Built.
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I remember reading “The Bluest Eye” when I was quite young and just being slain by it. As a 10-year-old white kid, I certainly couldn empathize in a “I know what you’ve been through” kind of way, but I remember being inarticulately enraged and heartbroken on Pecola’s behalf. Changed me as a person, and I’m in Morrison’s debt because of it.
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Ok. I am really going to have to up my book arsenal. Even though it would be cake to get these books on my kindle, there is something about the smell and touch of a book that gets me.
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@ aspergum
I read “Home”. What are you talking about?
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She’s my favourite author. Words can’t express how much I love and respect her writing. “Jazz” was my favourite for many years, but now I’m thinking maybe “Beloved” is. I can’t really compare because I read “Beloved” only in English and “Jazz” in translation, so I might not compare. The translation was good, but it’s never the same as the original.
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Wow Mira! it’s been a looooong time! Welcome back!
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Thanks! I visit from time to time but I don’t comment as often. Maybe I should try being more of a regular.
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I always appreciated your comments, and your background in anthropology… as i recall?
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Ah, thanks! Yes, that’s right, anthropology (well, and archaeology).
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Saw an excellent quote by Toni Morrison, “If You Want to fly you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
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@Abagond: Did you see Toni Morrison on Stephen Colbert it was good. She strikes me as someone who doesn’t suffer fools lightly. But they had a nice light rapport. The subject of racism was mentioned when Colbert said “I don’t see race” On this blog we have had that discussion many times. It gave me pause and when white people make that statement i think they mean well but don’t consider what that really means. Ms. Morrison went on to explain how there is no such thing as race that it is a social construct. I am still trying to comprehend what that means myself. I doubted if Colbert had read any of her books. And he admitted that he hadn’t. She said she just read Beloved. I thought that was strange and interesting. If you get a chance go to You Tube and check it out.
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In the Stephen Colbert guest appearance she has a sense of humor. I guess she would have to to agree to appear on the show.
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@ Mary
Thanks!
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RIP to Toni Morrison
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RIP
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“If you can only be tall because someone else is on their knees, You have a serious problem.”-Toni Morrison
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Will go back to reread Sula.
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RIP
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@ Mary Burrell
Sula was the first Toni Morrison book I read. I liked it even more than The Bluest Eye, which was a masterpiece. I still remember passages from both books.
Toni Morrison joins the ancestors….
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I loved “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved” and, according to someone whose opinion I trust, I will love “Sula” too.
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I liked The Bluest Eye, I really enjoyed Song of Solomon out of all her books. I read Sula and will have to go back and reread.
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Happy birthday Toni Morrison. You are missed.
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