Remembering Toni Morrison Through Her Notable Works
We saw the passing this month of Toni Morrison, described as one of the post-modern era’s most inspired crafters of prose and story. She wrote with powerful lyricism and profound insight about the ills of racism and sexism.
The reference librarians wrote about Morrison’s impact on literature and her readers in their Books & Authors blog, found on thelibrary.org. Reserve your copy at thelibrary.org/catalog.
- “Beloved” won Morrison the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for this intense story of an escaped slave and her daughter.
- “The Bluest Eye,” Morrison’s first novel, tells of an 11-year-old black girl in America who loves blond, blue-eyed children and prays for her eyes to turn blue so she may be beautiful and noticed, too.
- “Song of Solomon,” described as a romance of self-discovery, a retelling of the black experience in America and a family saga.
- “Sula,” about two girls who grow up to become women and something worse than enemies.
- “Tar Baby.” On a tropical island paradise, six people interact with each other in all the tender or hateful ways that human beings are capable of.
- “God Help the Child,” Morrison’s first novel to be set in our current moment.
- “Home,” a deeply moving novel about an apparently defeated man finding his manhood, and his home.
- “Love,” described as an exploration into how alive the past can be.
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The library’s collection of presidential biographies is nearing completion, thanks to a $400 gift from an anonymous donor. The donor earlier gave the Library Foundation $600 after discovering our collection did not include every president.
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Have you made it to one of the library’s Community Listening Sessions yet? We’re doing casual, one-hour meet-ups at the branches to hear what you like/dislike about library services and what you’d like in the future. It will help us write the next five-year plan to create the library you want and need.
The next sessions are 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Strafford Branch Library; 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, in the Library Center auditorium; and 5 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Library Center. More sessions are being planned in the coming weeks.
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