On Morrison

Stunning reconsiderations of Morrison... incisive, tender, and also honest and unsparing

HANIF ABDURRAQIB, author of A Little Devil in America

In On Morrison, Serpell applies her prodigious intellect, vast literary archive, and her own calling as a novelist to magnificent effect in this breathtaking, provocative, and refreshing engagement with Morrison as a thinker as well as an artist

IMANI PERRY, author of South to America

On Morrison is not simply a literary miracle; it is a cultural feat, a damn near perfect concoction made maybe once in a generation... we should be thankful to share the earth with this art object

KIESE LAYMON, author of Heavy: An American Memoir

A thrilling, candid and immersive study... A necessary book, and a brilliant achievement

PRETI TANEJA, author of We That Are Young

As gripping as it is intellectually brilliant... a lucid and revelatory close-read of all of her work... On Morrison is a classic

CATHY PARK HONG, author of Minor Feelings

An impressive, nuanced work of scholarship

Kirkus, starred review

Insightful and stimulating... Through exceptional close readings and sharp analyses, Serpell puts Morrison’s genius on full display. This will enthrall Morrison fans and cultivate new ones

Publishers Weekly, starred review

Serpell is a superlative essayist, and On Morrison a high-flying, fantastically erudite rendition of how Morrison wanted to be read, blending the scholarly and the personal response to her work with seamless flair and conviction

DIANA EVANS, author of Ordinary People

Morrison gave me language to understand the voices of my African-American kin. In this brilliant book, Namwali Serpell invites the reader into an intimate conversation. She is scholar - with an incisive intellect and a questing spirit. And she is literary bestie: accessible, challenging and illuminating

ELLAH P. WAKATAMA

Serpell brings her expertise and eye to Toni Morrison’s singular literary genius. Maybe you’ve memorised The Bluest Eye, Sula or Morrison’s essays by heart, or you’ve decided to revisit an author you were first introduced to in school. Either way, this work will deepen your understanding of and appreciation for one of the greatest writers and editors of the 20th century

Harper's Bazaar

[Serpell has] hopped on a rocket and touched the Tonisphere, with her mind... Serpell's excitement, her sense of discovery and dismay, become yours

Wesley Morris, NYTBR

Deep and enriching.... I have waited years for this book.... Serpell has managed to deliver a book that works on many levels: as a study of craft, as a critical appraisal, and as a tribute to an artist who was difficult in all the right ways

Laila Lalami, Guardian

Informed, accessible literary analysis

Sam Sax, Wall Street Journal

Serpell’s deep but clear investigation of Morrison’s literary genius is one of the best primers to an author’s oeuvre I’ve ever read

Esquire

Serpell examines Toni Morrison’s oeuvre with the rigor of an academic and the admiration of a fellow creative... refreshingly jargon-free and accessible to most readers of Morrison’s novels and essays

Los Angeles Times

I did not expect reading this learned work of literary criticism to be some of the most fun I've had this year

Sara Collins, Observer