Well worth reading if you are a big Morrison fan. I particularly enjoyed the essays where she discusser's her own books, but there were also a handful of essays that were very heavy handed. And the themes were a bit repetitive. It's still a privilege to read her work. ( )

I'm skipping putting a rating on this one as the structure is really getting in the way of my enjoyment. I think I'm going to have to dip in and out of this one over time rather than read it as a collected work. I will definitely be turning to the Sources section before starting a piece to get an idea of when and where it originated. The higgly piggly, out of context arrangement is very hard for me to digest.

Collection of Toni Morrison’s essays and speeches that sheds light on Morrison’s worldviews. For me the most impactful and emotionally evocative pieces are her eulogies and meditations, those written to and about people she desires to honor. She also closely examines her own novels, and I found several nuggets that helped me understand her body of work better. This book was much more academic and philosophical than expected, with her objectives sometimes obscured beneath elaborate language. Several essays are detailed examinations of literary writing and criticism. She explores themes in works of other authors. She comments on society. I was not really expecting or seeking an academic treatise. I can, however, strongly recommend her fiction, especially Sula, Song of Solomon, Beloved, Paradise, and A Mercy. I enjoyed this book, but I think her messages come through beautifully, and more powerfully, in her fiction. ( )

This is the first book by Toni Morrison I've read and I'm sad it has taken me this long to experience her rich, beautiful, and eloquent prose. I look forward to adding the rest of her books to my life-long to-read list.

So good!

I didn't really expect to like this book quite as much as I did. This is a collection of Toni Morrison's essays and speeches collected over the last 40-ish years.

I expected to see the role of race in literature - and she didn't disappoint!

But the subject matter also ranged through art, critiques and explanations of her own works, review/literary criticism of some classic literature (Moby Dick and Beowulf), her thoughts on being an author in America, and her thoughts on being an African American in America.

Three of the pieces really jumped out for me:
- Her full-hearted support for the National Endowment for the Arts.

- A review of Moby Dick through the lens of black slavery. Seriously, this was the first critique of that God Awful classic American novel I've ever seen. Almost made the high school death march assignment of this book worthwhile - just to have the context for Toni Morrison's review.

- The combined impact of her commencement speeches. The older I get, the more I appreciate good commencement speeches.

The selections are taken over time and (I assume) unedited. So there is a bit of repetition of themes and sometimes word for word text. But the overall effect was amazing. ( )