Bloomsbury Handbook to Toni Morrison

The most substantial collection of critical essays on Morrison to appear since her death in mid-2019, this book contains previously unpublished essays which both acknowledge the universal significance of her writing even as they map new directions. Essayists include pre-eminent Morrison scholars, as well as scholars who work in cultural criticism, African American letters, American modernism, and women''s writing.

The book includes work on Morrison as a public intellectual; work which places Morrison''s writing within today''s currents of contemporary fiction; work which draws together Morrison''s “trilogy” of Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise alongside Dos Passos'' USA trilogy; work which links Morrison to such Black Atlantic artists as Lubaina Himid and others as well as work which offers a reading of “influence” that goes both directions between Morrison and Faulkner. Another cluster of essays treats seldom-discussed works by Morrison, including an essay on Morrison as writer of children''s books and as speaker for children''s education. In addition, a “Teaching Morrison” section is designed to help teachers and critics who teach Morrison in undergraduate classes.

The Bloomsbury Handbook to Toni Morrison is wide-ranging, provocative, and satisfying; a fitting tribute to one of the greatest American novelists.