The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison 5 stars

[Sue]

So good!

I didn't really expect to like this book quite as much as I did. This is a collection of Toni Morrison's essays and speeches collected over the last 40-ish years.

I expected to see the role of race in literature - and she didn't disappoint!

But the subject matter also ranged through art, critiques and explanations of her own works, review/literary criticism of some classic literature (Moby Dick and Beowulf), her thoughts on being an author in America, and her thoughts on being an African American in America.

Three of the pieces really jumped out for me:
- Her full-hearted support for the National Endowment for the Arts.

- A review of Moby Dick through the lens of black slavery. Seriously, this was the first critique of that God Awful classic American novel I've ever seen. Almost made the high school death march assignment of this book worthwhile - just to have the context for Toni Morrison's review.

- The combined impact of her commencement speeches. The older I get, the more I appreciate good commencement speeches.

The selections are taken over time and (I assume) unedited. So there is a bit of repetition of themes and sometimes word for word text. But the overall effect was amazing.

As I started the book I questioned the memoir tag a little. But at the end I felt like I had taken a walk through Toni Morrison's head, and would definitely characterize this as a memoir. Not an easy or short read, but really glad I picked it up for the tag this month.

[Theresa]

I now have to read this for the Moby Dick chapter alone! I made the mistake of reading the chapter on blubber processing while eating lunch - turrned me off tuna sandwiches for years.

It sounds wonderful, actually.

[NancyJ]

This is the most challenging memoir I've read so far. It's very interesting and I'm learning a great deal. She is very impressive.