Page count: 206
Publication Date: 1970
Genre: Fiction, Classic American Literature, African American Literature
I’m so excited to announce this book as the book club pick for March. March is women’s empowerment month, and I wanted to choose a book that fully encompasses that.
Where to buy this book:
Synopsis
It’s a story about Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, who prays for every day for blue eyes. Not only blue eyes, but beauty. I have personally have not read the book, but I have heard that this was a really good book.
This is a very short book that could be read in a week, or in day if possible, but it’s meant for you to take your time with it. Really dive into the story, let the words influence your attitude, and learn.
Synopsis from the publisher
Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing.
About the Author
My beautiful Toni. As an undergrad, her chapters from Beloved, excerpts from her essays, and interviews, were always praised in my undergrad courses.
Toni Morrison passed away the summer after I received my BA in English. I was devastated as I sat on my desk and read Playing in the Dark.
Toni has achieved herself a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, been awarded the presidential medal of freedom by Barack Obama in 2012, the Pulitzer prize, and the national book award. This is her first book and it’s a book that is aimed to teach everyone the heavy topics of beauty, racism, and child abuse.
Literary Criticism
You can’t go wrong by reading or re-reading the collected works of Toni Morrison. Beloved, Song of Solomon, The Bluest Eye, Sula, everything else — they’re transcendent, all of them. You’ll be glad you read them.
Barack Obama
“A profoundly successful work of fiction. . . . Taut and understated, harsh in its detachment, sympathetic in its truth . . . it is an experience.”
The Detroit Free Press
This is a MUST read. This book is dark and powerful, poetic and real. All at once feeling like you want to run into the main character’s vulnerable pain but wanting to look away at the same time. Morrison’s command of writing is perfection. Absolute perfection. The forward is also very helpful to read to give context to when she wrote it, her approach and what she may have wanted to change. Wonderful to read an artist’s self-reflection. If you’re a white woman looking to learn more about black women and men’s experiences of internalized and institutionalized racism and dismantle your privilege, this book is for you. Be prepared to cry and think hard.
an Amazon review
I’m so excited for everyone in the book club to read this so that we can all engage in these heavy handed conversations. Follow the blog for more blog related content on this month’s book club pick.
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