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Showing 1 - 20 of 78 items
What exactly is goodness? Where is it found in the literary imagination? Toni Morrison, one of American letters’ greatest voices,…
pondered these perplexing questions in her celebrated Ingersoll Lecture, delivered at Harvard University in 2012 and published now for the first time in book form.Perhaps because it is overshadowed by the more easily defined evil, goodness often escapes our attention. Recalling many literary examples, from Ahab to Coetzee’s Michael K, Morrison seeks the essence of goodness and ponders its significant place in her writing. She considers the concept in relation to unforgettable characters from her own works of fiction and arrives at conclusions that are both eloquent and edifying. In a lively interview conducted for this book, Morrison further elaborates on her lecture’s ideas, discussing goodness not only in literature but in society and history—particularly black history, which has responded to centuries of brutality with profound creativity.Morrison’s essay is followed by a series of responses by scholars in the fields of religion, ethics, history, and literature to her thoughts on goodness and evil, mercy and love, racism and self-destruction, language and liberation, together with close examination of literary and theoretical expressions from her works. Each of these contributions, written by a scholar of religion, considers the legacy of slavery and how it continues to shape our memories, our complicities, our outcries, our lives, our communities, our literature, and our faith. In addition, the contributors engage the religious orientation in Morrison’s novels so that readers who encounter her many memorable characters such as Sula, Beloved, or Frank Money will learn and appreciate how Morrison’s notions of goodness and mercy also reflect her understanding of the sacred and the human spirit.By Toni Morrison. 1998
Two girls who grow up to become women. Two friends who become something worse than enemies. In this brilliantly imagined…
novel, Toni Morrison tells the story of Nel Wright and Sula Peace, who meet as children in the small town of Medallion, Ohio. Their devotion is fierce enough to withstand bullies and the burden of a dreadful secret. It endures even after Nel has grown up to be a pillar of the black community and Sula has become a pariah. But their friendship ends in an unforgivable betrayal—or does it end? Terrifying, comic, ribald and tragic, Sula is a work that overflows with life.By Toni Morrison. 2007
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. [This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 11-12 at http://www.corestandards.org.]By Toni Morrison. 2015
The new novel from Nobel laureate Toni Morrison.Spare and unsparing, God Help the Child is a searing tale about the…
way childhood trauma shapes and misshapes the life of the adult. At the centre: a woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life; but which caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love until she told a lie that ruined the life of an innocent woman, a lie whose reverberations refuse to diminish.... Booker, the man Bride loves and loses, whose core of anger was born in the wake of the childhood murder of his beloved brother ... Rain, the mysterious white child, who finds in Bride the only person she can talk to about the abuse she's suffered at the hands of her prostitute mother ... and Sweetness, Bride's mother, who takes a lifetime to understand that "what you do to children matters. And they might never forget."By Toni Morrison. 2003
Heed y Christine, dos mujeres ya ancianas, han dedicado toda su vida a amar a un solo hombre y a…
odiarse de mil maneras distintas. Quien despertó en su día tanta rivalidad es Bill Cosey, el dueño de un hotel de la costa Este de Estados Unidos, que en los años cuarenta era el lugar. de encuentro de la gente de color con dinero y con ganas de divertirse. Bill murió hace años, dejando un reguero de recuerdos y un testamento confuso que obliga a las dos enemigas a convivir bajo el mismo techo en una mansión destartalada, donde alimentan su antigua rabia con gestos despechados y palabras amargas. Pero ¿quiénes son en realidad Heed y Christine? ¿Qué relación las une? Toni Morrison llevará al lector hasta el tiempo en que eran niñas y amigas inseparables, y le presentará a otras mujeres y hombres que conocieron a Bill, un fantasma que toma cuerpo gracias al amor que otros le entregaron en su día. "Amor es una excelente novela que combina magistralmente diálogo, introspección, denuncia social y lirismo." RAFAEL NARBONA, El Mundo "Amor es una novela de las que dejan huella. Dolorosa y bellísima escrita." JUANA SALABERTBy Toni Morrison. 1973
Toni Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), was acclaimed as the work of an important talent, written--as John Leonard…
said in The New York Times--in a prose "so precise, so faithful to speech and so charged with pain and wonder that the novel becomes poetry. " Sula has the same power, the same beauty. At its center--a friendship between two women, a friendship whose intensity first sustains, then injures. Sula and Nel--both black, both smart, both poor, raised in a small Ohio town--meet when they are twelve, wishbone thin and dreaming of princes. Through their girlhood years they share everything--perceptions, judgments, yearnings, secrets, even crime--until Sula gets out, out of the Bottom, the hilltop neighborhood where beneath the sporting life of the men hanging around the place in headrags and soft felt hats there hides a fierce resentment at failed crops, lost jobs, thieving insurance men, bug-ridden flour. . . at the invisible line that cannot be overstepped. Sula leaps it and roams the cities of America for ten years. Then she returns to the town, to her friend. But Nel is a wife now, settled with her man and her three children. She belongs. She accommodates to the Bottom, where you avoid the hand of God by getting in it, by staying upright, helping out at church suppers, asking after folks--where you deal with evil by surviving it. Not Sula. As willing to feel pain as to give pain, she can never accommodate. Nel can't understand her any more, and the others never did. Sula scares them. Mention her now, and they recall that she put her grandma in an old folks' home (the old lady who let a train take her leg for the insurance). . . that a child drowned in the river years ago. . . that there was a plague of robins when she first returned. . . In clear, dark, resonant language, Toni Morrison brilliantly evokes not only a bond between two lives, but the harsh, loveless, ultimately mad world in which that bond is destroyed, the world of the Bottom and its people, through forty years, up to the time of their bewildered realization that even more than they feared Sula, their pariah, they needed her.By Toni Morrison. 1970
Pecola es una niña pequeña que vive con sus padres y tiene una prima que se llama Claudia. Le gustan…
las muñecas y las caléndulas, que no le gustan a nadie excepto a ella. Pecola es negra y cree que es fea porque no se parece a Shirley Temple. Y tiene un truco para desaparecer cuando sus padres se pelean o su padre la molesta por las noches: piensa en que tiene unos preciosos ojos azules y que todo el mundo admira su belleza y que las otras niñas la envidian. Pero ese sueño nunca se convertirá en realidad y Pecola seguirá atrapada en la triste vida que le ha tocado en suerte. En esta primera novela, Toni Morrison, la ganadora del Premio Nobel de Literatura 1993, parte de la realidad de una chiquilla desgraciada para tratar temas muy diversos, como el concepto de belleza impuesto, la voz femenina o la infancia truncada, y lo consigue con una historia dura y deliciosa al mismo tiempo.By Toni Morrison. 2013
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and…
as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement. A New York Times BestsellerThe Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Beloved and Jazz now gives us a learned, stylish, and immensely persuasive work of literary…
criticism that promises to change the way we read American literature even as it opens a new chapter in the American dialogue on race. Toni Morrison's brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition. She shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires. Written with the artistic vision that has earned Toni Morrison a pre-eminent place in modern letters, Playing in the Dark will be avidly read by Morrison admirers as well as by students, critics, and scholars of American literature.By Toni Morrison. 1992
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Beloved and Jazz now gives us a learned, stylish, and immensely persuasive work of literary…
criticism that promises to change the way we read American literature even as it opens a new chapter in the American dialogue on race. Toni Morrison's brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition. She shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires. Written with the artistic vision that has earned Toni Morrison a pre-eminent place in modern letters, Playing in the Dark will be avidly read by Morrison admirers as well as by students, critics, and scholars of American literature.By Toni Morrison. 2019
At once the ideal introduction to Toni Morrison and a lovely and moving keepsake for her devoted readers: a treasury…
of quotations from her work. With a foreword by Zadie Smith.Through bricolage--a construction or creation from a diverse range of available things--this brief book aims to limn the totality of Toni Morrison's literary vision and achievement. It dramatizes the life of her powerful mind by juxtaposing quotations, one to a page, drawn from her entire body of work, both fiction and non-fiction--from The Bluest Eye to God Help the Child, from Playing in the Dark to The Source of Self-Regard.Its compelling sequence of flashes of revelation--stunning for their linguistic originality, keenness of psychological observation, and philosophical profundity--addresses issues of abiding interest in Morrison's work: the reach of language for the ineffable; transcendence through imagination; the self and its discontents; the vicissitudes of love; the whirligig of memory; the singular power of women; the original American sin of slavery; the bankruptcy of racial oppression; the complex humanity and art of black people. The Measure of Our Lives brims with elegance of style and authority.By Toni Morrison. 2019
A Vintage Shorts selection.In her elegant yet piercing style, one of our most celebrated and revered writers, Toni Morrison, interrogates…
the writer’s task and responsibility in two illuminating and essential pieces. Initially delivered as parts of lecture series and collected in The Source of Self-Regard, these pieces exhibit the depth with which Morrison probes the capacity and power of literature. An ebook short.By Toni Morrison. 2011
Por medio de la historia de un ex combatiente en la guerra de Corea y su intento por reconciliarse con…
la vida, la premio Nobel de Literatura hace un reflejo de la Norteamérica más profunda. El cuerpo de un amigo destrozado por la metralla, la voz de un hombre que pide clemencia, la mano de una niña que asoma escarbando entre la basura para encontrar algo de comer...Hay imágenes que vuelven una y otra vez a la mente de Frank Money, un veterano de la guerra de Corea que ahora vuelve a Estados Unidos en busca de olvido y afecto. Corren los años cincuenta del siglo pasado y las heridas de Frank no son solo físicas: su patria es racista, su familia ha acumulado mucho odio, y el regreso parece más un camino hacia el infierno que una vuelta al hogar. Su destino es Georgia porque Frank quiere rescatar y devolver a casa a su hermana Cee, casada con un chulo que la abandonó a los pocos días de la boda, y empleada en casa de un médicosin escrúpulos. Es la determinación por salvar a esa mujer frágil lo que llevará a Frank a asumir sus culpas y saldar cuentas con lo que fue su vida. Ahí, en ese ir y venir de emociones hondas, brilla el talento de Toni Morrison, una mujer que lleva el dolor en la punta de los dedos y lo gobierna con pocas y buenas palabras. «A mis ochenta y un años, me siento atenta, vital, yo diría que espléndida... cuando escribo.»Toni Morrison Reseña:«Morrison ha encontrado una voz y un estilo puro y directo... ha desvelado las formas en las que la violencia se trenza con la pasión para redimir un pasado que vuelve y duele.»Michiko Kakutani, The New York TimesBy Toni Morrison. 1987
Una madre Sethe la esclava que mata a su propia hija para salvarla del horror para que…
la indignidad del presente no tenga futuro posible Una hija Beloved la ni a que desde su nacimiento se aliment de leche mezclada con sangre y poco a poco fue perdiendo contacto con la realidad por la voluntad de un cari o demasiado denso Una experiencia el crimen como nica arma contra el dolor ajeno el amor como nica justificaci n ante el delito y la muerte comoparad jica salvaci n ante una vida destinada a la esclavitud Con este dolor y este amor en apariencia indecibles Toni Morrison ha construido una soberbia novela que en su d a le vali el Premio PulitzerBy Toni Morrison. 2019
p style="text-align:center">El último libro de la gran premio Nobel de Literatura: su insoslayable legado moral e intelectual El racismo puede…
ponerse un traje nuevo, comprarse unas botas nuevas, pero ni él ni su súcubo gemelo, el fascismo, son nuevos ni capaces de nada nuevo. Solo puede reproducir el entorno que respalda su propia condición: el miedo, el rechazo y una atmósfera en que sus víctimas han perdido las ganas de luchar.TONI MORRISONLa fuente de la autoestima es la magnífica recopilación de ensayos y discursos de Toni Morrison en los que ofrece sus lúcidas reflexiones sobre la sociedad, la cultura y el arte de los últimos cuarenta años, y realiza una contundente crítica de sus obras y también de algunas ajenas. Morrison aborda temas sociales acuciantes como la inmigración, el empoderamiento de la mujer, la prensa, el dinero o los derechos humanos, la función de los artistas en la sociedad, la creación literaria y, al igual que en su emocionante discurso de recepción del Premio Nobel, el poder del lenguaje. La crítica ha dicho...«Morrison recordó que Estados Unidos se ha levantado sobre la raza, la esclavitud, la memoria, la identidad, la discriminación y la integración de la cultura afroamericana. Nunca se cansó de señalar la manera como los negros han sido tratados en su país. Y no ocultó las críticas a su raza. [...] Gran parte de todo eso está expresado en La fuente de la autoestima.»Winston Manrique «Toni Morrison es la gran narradora de la verdad afroamericana. Una de las personas que mejor ha contado y reflexionado sobre la situación de la población negra y su cultura en Estados Unidos y sobre la raza en general en el mundo. [...] Nunca se cansó de señalar la manera como los negros han sido tratados en su país. Y no ocultó las críticas a su raza. Gran parte de todo eso está expresado en La fuente de la autoestima.»The Huffington Post «Este libro es un legado, [...] una suerte de testamento intelectual. En él, la Nobel de Literatura hace algo así como abrirnos la sala de máquinas de sus ficciones. [...] Una mezcla originalísima de inteligencia, fuerza y humanidad. [...] Imprescindible.»Pablo Martínez Zarracina, La Rioja «Una autora fundamental del siglo XX que en La fuente de la autoestima demuestra por qué está considerada una referencia moral, ética y cultural. Un testamento literario de una luchadora infatigable contra el racismo y a favor de los derechos humanos. Textos de mucha actualidad a pesar de haber sido escritos hace años.»Use Lahoz, El Ojo Crítico (RNE 1) «Morrison es algo más que la abanderada de la literatura norteamericana. Es nuestra mejor cantante. Y este libro, probablemente su canción más importante. [...] Resulta mágico ser testigodel trabajo de su mente e imaginación, tan fértiles y sutiles como el jazz.»James McBride, The New York Times Book Review «Conmovedor. [...] Magnífico. [...] Un gran libro, rico, heterogéneo, ¡aleluya! [...] Uno siente la tentación de examinar con detenimiento sus palabras: su agudeza y claridad moral son deslumbrantes, del mismo modo que su visión sobre cómo deberíamos caminar hacia un futuro menos injusto y con menos odio.»The Guardian «Deslumbrante, cautivadora y sumamente personal: una reflexión sobre su carrera literaria y su misión artística, que no es sino la de revelar y honrar la belleza del dolor y el drama de la vida de los afroamericanos.»O, The Oprah MagazineBy Toni Morrison. 2004
Toni Morrison has collected a treasure chest of archival photographs that depict the historical events surrounding school desegregation. These unforgettable…
images serve as the inspiration for Ms. Morrison's text, a fictional account of the dialogue and emotions of the children who lived during the era of separate but equal schooling. Remember is a unique pictorial and narrative journey that introduces children to a watershed period in American history and its relevance to us today. Remember will be published on the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ending legal school segregation, handed down on May 17, 1954.Winner of the Coretta Scott King MedalBy Toni Morrison. 1992
Una potente novela sobre un crimen pasional y sus consecuencias ambientada en el Harlem de la década de 1920, con…
la firma inconfundible de Toni Morrison Cuando Violet y Joe Trace, un matrimonio entrado en años, llegan a Nueva York huyendo de la intolerancia de su Virginia natal, creen que podrán vivir en libertad sin importar el color de su piel. Pero el Harlem de los años '20, foco de un vibrante renacimiento cultural, les depara apuros inesperados. Joe acabará cometiendo un horrendo crimen pasional, mientras que Violet se verá obligada a convivir con sus celos y las repercusiones del acto de su marido. Retrato de una comunidad en plena ebullición, Jazz es una potente novela sobre conflictos raciales, ilusiones perdidas y las injusticias padecidas por las mujeres en el siglo XX. La crítica ha dicho:«Jazz brilla con una intensidad que se encuentra más a menudo en la poesía trágica del pasado que en la narrativa de hoy [...] La voz de Morrison trasciende los colores y los credos, y ella se ha vuelto una de las más destacadas escritoras estadounidenses de posguerra.»The Guardian «La escritura de Morrison acerca de un romance negro salda su deuda con la música blues, cuyos ritmos y placeres melancólicos la autora ha transformado mágicamente en una novela.»London Review of Books «La autora hace aparecer mundos con total autoridad y no oculta su angustia ante las injusticias padecidas por las mujeres de color.»The New York Times Book ReviewBy Toni Morrison. 1983
A beautiful, arresting short story by Toni Morrison—the only one she ever wrote—about race and the relationships that shape us…
through life, with an introduction by Zadie Smith.Twyla and Roberta have known each other since they were eight years old and spent four months together as roommates in the St. Bonaventure shelter. Inseparable at the time, they lose touch as they grow older, only to find each other later at a diner, then at a grocery store, and again at a protest. Seemingly at opposite ends of every problem, and in disagreement each time they meet, the two women still cannot deny the deep bond their shared experience has forged between them. Written in 1980 and anthologized in a number of collections, this is the first time Recitatif is being published as a stand-alone hardcover. In the story, Twyla&’s and Roberta&’s races remain ambiguous. We know that one is white and one is black, but which is which? And who is right about the race of the woman the girls tormented at the orphanage? Morrison herself described this story as &“an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial.&” Recitatif is a remarkable look into what keeps us together and what keeps us apart, and about how perceptions are made tangible by reality.By Toni Morrison. 1996
On the occasion of her acceptance of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters on the…
sixth of November, 1996, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison speaks with brevity and passion to the pleasures, the difficulties, the necessities, of the reading/writing life in our time.By Toni Morrison. 2017
What is race and why does it matter? Why does the presence of Others make us so afraid? America’s foremost…
novelist reflects on themes that preoccupy her work and dominate politics: race, fear, borders, mass movement of peoples, desire for belonging. Ta-Nehisi Coates provides a foreword to Toni Morrison’s most personal work of nonfiction to date.