Modern Classics by Toni Morrison

Tonight, we shine our proverbial spotlight on @vintagebooksexquisite new editions of Toni Morrison’s best-known novels, published in celebration of her life and work.

A Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner (amongst many other accolades), she is one of the most celebrated writers in recent history, renowned for titles such as Sula, Songs of Solomen, Beloved and The Bluest Eye, which irrevocably changed the American literary landscape.

What I love about these new editions, beside the gorgeous designs, are the forewords by powerhouse authors inspired by her, Zadie Smith and Marlon James as examples, which provide commentary and insight on the text, elevating the reading experience.

Her books and plays are important to so many, for giving a voice to the disenfranchised, for highlighting disparity and racism, for the joy she brings to representing her history and culture. The style of writing is poetic, lyrical and deeply profound with a wry wit creating characters that stay with you for a long time.

Her only short story, Recitatif, is nothing short of genius. Morrison withholds crucial details on racial identity of the characters, leaving space for you to speculate within her experiment. As Zadie Smith notes, this inevitably leads to revealing a lot more about the reader than the prose. What I took away was the universal experience of being human and the social constructs that bind our thoughts.

Our two main characters are girls staying in a shelter, who meet at various points of their lives. Race plays a huge part of the plot but not knowing this vital part of the story adds a compelling element that is testament to the brilliance of Toni Morrison, who can make you laugh, cry, and sit in deep contemplation with one page of her words. As relevant today as any contemporary writer, these modern classics have a place on every readers bookshelves.

~ Chaya

Thank you so much to @vintagebooks for sending us this beautiful collection {Ad:PR Copies with no contractual obligation attached}