Song of Solomon - my bookrastinating

No cover — Toni Morrison: Song of Solomon (1993, Chatto & Windus)

337 pages

English language

Published Nov. 12, 1993 by Chatto & Windus.

ISBN:: 978-0-7011-6210-8
OCLC Number:: 246690085

(1 review)

Song of Solomon is a 1977 novel by American author Toni Morrison, her third to be published. It follows the life of Macon "Milkman" Dead III, an African-American man living in Michigan, from birth to adulthood. This novel won the National Book Critics Circle Award, was chosen for Oprah Winfrey's popular book club, and was cited by the Swedish Academy in awarding Morrison the 1993 Nobel Prize in literature. In 1998, the Radcliffe Publishing Course named it the 25th best English-language novel of the 20th century.

37 editions

Trevor Burrows reviewed Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (A Borzoi book)

Top of the top.

5 stars

Have by no means read all of Morrison's work but this is easily my favorite of hers so far.

In many ways, it's a book about stories, and just about every page or two packs an evocative, tightly-wound passage that one could imagine spinning off as an entirely separate story. Equally important, it's just a masterclass in style: Morrison's language feels both familiar and absolutely unique. Characters just jump off the page, and settings feel vivid and immediate.

It was a joy to read, though heavy at times, and I'm almost mad I rushed through it. Will likely return in the next year or two and take it a bit slower.