Wow. Toni Morrison is amazing, and this is an incredible debut novel. I've been wanting to catch up on the African-American experience for a while, and especially now that I moved to Florida just as the Trayvon Martin case erupted.

This is the first of Morrison's books that I've read, and I'll definitely be reading more. At least once I've recovered sufficiently from this one. This is a book full of human suffering, and definitely not for the faint of heart. The structure of The Bluest Eye is strange, but perfect. I think much of the genius of it is in how Morrison humanizes even the characters that seem most despicable. The elegant simplicity of her metaphors and prose is exquisite, and the cadence of the dialogue unerring. This is a compelling, devastating novel.