Jazz [B2198]

1993 PB in nice clean condition. From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winning author, a passionate, profound story of love and obsession based on the hopes, fears, and deep realities of Black urban life. With a foreword by the author. "As rich in themes and poetic images as her Pulitzer Prize-winning Beloved.... Morrison conjures up the hand of slavery on Harlem's jazz generation. The more you listen, the more you crave to hear." -Glamour

In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees nothing but good things ahead, Joe Trace, middle-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe's wife, Violet, attacks the girl's corpse. "Transforms a familiar refrain of jilted love into a bold, sustaining time of self-knowledge and discovery. Its rhythms are infectious." -People

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "A remarkable read which draws the reader in to different characters' views with a lyrical energy which is both intoxicating and at times confusing. A poetic reflection on love, life and the human condition told through a story of urban black lives in America in the 1920s. The title reflects not just the era but the style of the book, as it improvises and breaks off into different themes and narrators' perspectives, returns to the plot, and then breaks off again in a new direction. That makes it both challenging and enthralling, like the best jazz tunes."; "An incredible feat of literature!"; "Toni Morrison is the absolute master of language, as always. I would have preferred to stick closer to a few characters and understand them in more depth, but if Toni Morrison wants to structure a novel to mimic a music genre, who are we mere mortals to say she shouldn't."; "This is one of my favorite books in the world. I actually did a whole senior capstone quarter on nothing but Toni Morrison, my favorite author."; "I just... love Toni Morrison's writing so much. What a gift. The musicality of this book, the way the story flowed WAS jazz. It was tragic and transformative and at times I felt like I was listening in on gossip and others like I was looking at human desire laid bare."