Ratings11
Average rating4
In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees nothing but good things ahead, Joe Trace, middle-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe’s wife, Violet, attacks the girl’s corpse. This passionate, profound story of love and obsession brings us back and forth in time, as a narrative is assembled from the emotions, hopes, fears, and deep realities of black urban life.
Series
2 primary books3 released booksBeloved Trilogy is a 3-book series with 2 primary works first released in 1987 with contributions by Toni Morrison.
Reviews with the most likes.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Many people (supposedly) hated this book even after Oprah put it on her book list and I don't understand why. The characters are very well written an the plot weaves in and out of the African American experience of before and after slavery. As a book, without it being a book solely about Af-Am experience (which it has to be about), it's still pretty good.
The name of the book is Jazz and yet I was wholly unprepared for the lyricism of Morrison's writing. As usual, her characters are flawed, complex individuals, but there's an ambiguity and circularity to this novel that isn't present in Sula or Song of Solomon.
Good but not as good as some of Morrison's other work. I was less invested in this than Beloved or The Bluest Eye.