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On Morrison
An illuminating, electrifying exploration of the work of Toni Morrison by an award-winning novelist and Harvard professor
“In this lavish yet clear-eyed study, Serpell shows how Morrison breathed new life into the novel. This is literary criticism at its finest.”—Time
“As gripping as it is intellectually brilliant . . . a classic.”—Cathy Park Hong
“Serpell puts Morrison’s genius on full display. This will enthrall Morrison fans.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Filled with unique analyses, deep dives, and an intellectual playfulness that Morrison herself so valued, this book will stand as one of the most important twenty-first-century works on the great American writer.”—Imani Perry, author of South to America
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE The New York Times, Time, The Today Show, Harper's Bazaar, Ms., The Millions, Well-Read Black Girl, Kirkus Reviews, Lit Hub
Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and one of our most beloved writers, has inspired generations of readers. But her artistic genius is often overshadowed by her monumental public persona, perhaps because, as Namwali Serpell puts it, “she is our only truly canonical black female writer—and her work is highly complex.” In On Morrison, Serpell brings her unique experience as both an award-winning writer and a professor who teaches a course on Morrison to illuminate her masterful experiments with literary form.
This is Morrison as you’ve never encountered her before, a journey through her oeuvre—her fiction and criticism, as well as her lesser-known dramatic works and poetry—with contextual guidance and original close readings. At once accessible and uncompromisingly rigorous, On Morrison is a primer not only on how to read one of the most significant American authors of all time but also on how to read great works of literature in general. This dialogue on the page between two black women artist-readers is stylish, edifying, and thrilling in its scope and intelligence.
“In this lavish yet clear-eyed study, Serpell shows how Morrison breathed new life into the novel. This is literary criticism at its finest.”—Time
“As gripping as it is intellectually brilliant . . . a classic.”—Cathy Park Hong
“Serpell puts Morrison’s genius on full display. This will enthrall Morrison fans.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Filled with unique analyses, deep dives, and an intellectual playfulness that Morrison herself so valued, this book will stand as one of the most important twenty-first-century works on the great American writer.”—Imani Perry, author of South to America
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE The New York Times, Time, The Today Show, Harper's Bazaar, Ms., The Millions, Well-Read Black Girl, Kirkus Reviews, Lit Hub
Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and one of our most beloved writers, has inspired generations of readers. But her artistic genius is often overshadowed by her monumental public persona, perhaps because, as Namwali Serpell puts it, “she is our only truly canonical black female writer—and her work is highly complex.” In On Morrison, Serpell brings her unique experience as both an award-winning writer and a professor who teaches a course on Morrison to illuminate her masterful experiments with literary form.
This is Morrison as you’ve never encountered her before, a journey through her oeuvre—her fiction and criticism, as well as her lesser-known dramatic works and poetry—with contextual guidance and original close readings. At once accessible and uncompromisingly rigorous, On Morrison is a primer not only on how to read one of the most significant American authors of all time but also on how to read great works of literature in general. This dialogue on the page between two black women artist-readers is stylish, edifying, and thrilling in its scope and intelligence.
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 17, 2026
44 people are currently reading
9117 people want to read
About the author
Namwali Serpell
24 books756 followersNAMWALI SERPELL is a Zambian writer who teaches at UC Berkeley. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award in 2011 and was selected for the Africa 39 in 2014. She won the 2015 Caine Prize for African Writing.
THE OLD DRIFT is her first novel. The chapter entitled "The Falls" is derived from The Autobiography of An Old Drifter, by the historical figure, Percy M. Clark (1874-1937).
THE OLD DRIFT is her first novel. The chapter entitled "The Falls" is derived from The Autobiography of An Old Drifter, by the historical figure, Percy M. Clark (1874-1937).
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June 5, 2025Can't wait to get back on my Toni Morrison bullshit in 2026.
February 21, 2026
an astonishing deep dive into toni morrison’s oeuvre. i’ve only read the bluest eye, sula, song of solomon, and beloved so far, and it was great to get more insight into morrison’s themes and the brilliant way she used language to convey them. i plan on reading tar baby next, so i took notes from its chapter here on what to look out for when i do pick it up.
i can see myself returning to this book as i make my way through the rest of morrison’s work because of how well-researched and carefully thought out each section is. if you haven’t read many of morrison’s books, i would recommend jumping around in on morrison - read the chapters about her books you’ve already read, and return to it as you read the rest of her novels. because of how deep serpell goes, it can be a bit overwhelming reading straight through about the books you’re not yet familiar with. if you’ve read more of morrison’s work than i have, i’m sure you will get even more insight out of this one than i did.
thank you to hogarth and netgalley for the digital copy!
i can see myself returning to this book as i make my way through the rest of morrison’s work because of how well-researched and carefully thought out each section is. if you haven’t read many of morrison’s books, i would recommend jumping around in on morrison - read the chapters about her books you’ve already read, and return to it as you read the rest of her novels. because of how deep serpell goes, it can be a bit overwhelming reading straight through about the books you’re not yet familiar with. if you’ve read more of morrison’s work than i have, i’m sure you will get even more insight out of this one than i did.
thank you to hogarth and netgalley for the digital copy!
February 19, 2026
Big thanks to Random House and NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of Namwali Serpell’s brilliant new in-depth analysis of the works of American Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison titled On Morrison. If I could give this book 10 stars, one for each insightful chapter focused on Morrison’s novels, a play, a book of critical essays, and a short story, I would. This book was absolutely a joy to read, especially if you love literature and reading or were an English major. I had the pleasure of reading Song of Solomon and Beloved in two different lit courses in my undergrad studies, and I still remember how much Morrison’s writing both challenged and delighted me. It’s not just her characters and storytelling, but it’s her language- her imagery, the chiasmus, the metaphors, all of these literary and rhetorical devices that English majors become acquainted with- used to mastery to create worlds and beings so realistic and imbued with such emotion, passion, love, pain, loss, and sorrow. Reading Morrison in class, pairing the readings with research and criticism, discussing the findings and developing a thesis to argue for a research paper all helped me better understand some of the ideas and conceptions that Morrison grappled with in her writing, and Dr. Serpell’s book brought back all of that dialogue and debate, creating a Bakhtinian reading experience that also references the talking book and the kind of reading that Morrison reminded Orpah was necessary in literature. On Morrison is a book that I wish I had access to in undergrad or even when I was teaching Beloved to high school students. Not only does Dr. Serpell look at the kinds of dialogues and influences that Morrison’s books engage in, but she also gets into textual analysis, examining specific lines and sections from Morrison’s novels and other works to show these influences, the traditions, and signifying, demonstrating how Morrison not only engaged with classical and “canonical” literature, but also incorporated African American literature, history, themes, and language. On Morrison is such an important book not only because it assesses and addresses the first female Black Nobel Laureate in American history, but it also serves as a great model for students to learn textual analysis and close reading. It takes that kind of literary scholarship, which can seem foreign and intimidating to students, and makes it more accessible for students and others who may be interested in Morrison’s work but not necessarily studying her for a course. Furthermore, Dr. Serpell’s work helps readers appreciate Morrison, but also understand her place in American and world literature. While I wasn’t sure if this book would be more of a contextualized biography of Morrison’s life and works, it was so much more, and I felt as if this book was a course itself. I learned so much from this book, not only about Morrison’s life, but more about her work and how to consider her work and works of other writers like Hurston, Jean Toomer, William Faulkner, and Ralph Ellison. I also added to my “To Read” list with other writers who may have influenced Morrison’s writing. More importantly, though, Dr. Serpell’s book evoked memories, or the kind of re-memory from Beloved, where I kept thinking about friends, colleagues, and students, and how Morrison factored into so many of our conversations throughout my career as a student and teacher. Maybe my experience is unique, but I hope that others who have read and experienced Morrison’s novels may have a similar experience.
I haven’t read all of Morrison’s books; in fact, I’ve only read 5 of the books in this book. Two of them I read for classes; I’ve taught Beloved, which was its own emotionally fraught experience, and I’ve read 3 others on my own (The Bluest Eye, A Mercy, and Home), and my experience reading for class and teaching Beloved was much different than reading on my own. Dr. Serpell’s book was helpful in reconsidering these books, their themes, and how they relate to some of Morrison’s other works, as well as the works of other writers. In particular I appreciated the chapter dedicated to Morrison’s 3 later novels. Rather than addressing these novels with their own individual chapters, Dr. Serpell notes how there’s a difference with these novels than with Morrison’s earlier works. Furthermore, the last chapter indicates Morrison’s ambivalence to monuments, even though she has a hall in Princeton named after her. As Dr. Serpell notes too, citing Edward Said, later works can sometimes not only challenge or push against the previous work, raising complexities and contradictions with the artists (see notes Beethoven’s later works as a reference point), but that they can also provide insight into how the artists view their own works. It’s a fascinating chapter that lovingly critiques Morrison’s work, both in its differences and similarities to other works, and seeks not to monumentalize or memorialize her, but rather to further rearrange the puzzle pieces of her works to evoke a new or reimagined image. She used a bingo card to present some of the recurring themes, motifs, characters, and images that help readers better understand possible meanings in Morrison’s work. It’s both brilliant and funny. In addition, this chapter also focuses on Morrison’s experiments, and the many failures or the abandoned projects that were never midwifed into publication. This was also fascinating to read, and it was also a reminder of how even Nobel Laureates and the greats of American Literature even sometimes struggle with the writing process. I really enjoyed Dr. Serpell’s critiques of Morrison’s poetry, which I didn’t even know existed. However, it was the analysis of A Mercy, a book I read 17 years ago, shortly after it was first published, and really struggled to make meaning of it. Dr. Serpell’s analysis was clear, thoughtful, and provided much to consider. I loved seeing how A Mercy was in dialogue with other books from Morrison’s worlds. Reading this analysis definitely made me want to revisit the book to see many of the characters, stories, symbols, and language that I missed on my initial, isolated read.
Other chapters focus on specific texts- mostly novels, but one chapter focuses Morrison’s short story “Recitatif”, which was another experiment in removing racial identifiers from the main characters. I looked forward to reading each chapter, savoring them, going back to re-read longer passages of analysis and finding agreement with the connections and conclusions Dr. Serpell delivers. I think that Beloved was probably my favorite chapter, just because it’s a novel I’ve read and taught so many times, yet I learned so much more from this. While I recognize Beloved is a haunted house, ghost, and even a possession story, I never thought about the book in relation to the popular horror of the 80s, like Stephen King and Anne Rice. However, a few years ago, I read Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and James Welch’s Fools Crow, which were both published around the same time as Beloved. I couldn’t help but wonder if these books influenced Morrison at all. Similarly, when reading the chapter focused on The Bluest Eye, about the isolation and deprivation of Pecola, I wondered whether Morrison may have been influenced by McCarthy’s dark tale of isolation and alienation Child of God, or Welch’s earlier novel Winter in the Blood, which is another tale of fragmentation and identity. Although this book was published later than The Bluest Eye, maybe Welch read Morrison’s book and was influenced. I also kept thinking about Ayi Kwei Armah’s Fragments, another book I read for an African Literature course that has haunted me for nearly 30 years. This is another book about the power of colonization and corporations to created a fragmented sense of identity, where the main character truly loses a sense of his self due to the westernization of Ghana. It was published around the same time as The Bluest Eye, so I’m not sure if Morrison had any advanced notice of it, or maybe it was just something in the chronotope of the time period. It’s been more than 20 years since I read The Bluest Eye, and it’s not necessarily a book I want to revisit immediately, but reading Dr. Serpell’s analysis and connections made me want to revisit these texts to see how Morrison may have been in dialogue with some other writers of her time.
In addition, I couldn’t help but think of Sarah Chihaya’s memoir Blbliophobia, where she recounts her close emotional connection to reading and texts. Chihaya mentioned that The Bluest Eye was the text that she referred to as a “life ruiner,” since it opened her eyes to racism and self-hatred. Although I didn’t have the same experience, I do agree that reading Toni Morrison is an emotional and evocative experience. It’s transcendent and moving, a rare, but important experience that some of us may have when reading or engaging with great art that maybe doesn’t make us feel great, but that makes us feel a range of emotions, helping us to be more empathetic and understanding. Reading Namwali Serpell’s On Morrison was a thick love experience, like Sethe tells Paul D. “Thin love ain’t no love at all.” Dr. Serpell’s book, like most of Morrison’s books, is a loving experience, and one that is particularly thick in love. I could go on and on about this book, but I highly recommend it. Again, thanks to Random House and NetGalley, but more importantly thanks to Dr. Serpell for her brilliant writing and analysis about Toni Morrison. I will be revisiting this book, and it is one that I would share excerpts with students as well. Just an incredible read!
I haven’t read all of Morrison’s books; in fact, I’ve only read 5 of the books in this book. Two of them I read for classes; I’ve taught Beloved, which was its own emotionally fraught experience, and I’ve read 3 others on my own (The Bluest Eye, A Mercy, and Home), and my experience reading for class and teaching Beloved was much different than reading on my own. Dr. Serpell’s book was helpful in reconsidering these books, their themes, and how they relate to some of Morrison’s other works, as well as the works of other writers. In particular I appreciated the chapter dedicated to Morrison’s 3 later novels. Rather than addressing these novels with their own individual chapters, Dr. Serpell notes how there’s a difference with these novels than with Morrison’s earlier works. Furthermore, the last chapter indicates Morrison’s ambivalence to monuments, even though she has a hall in Princeton named after her. As Dr. Serpell notes too, citing Edward Said, later works can sometimes not only challenge or push against the previous work, raising complexities and contradictions with the artists (see notes Beethoven’s later works as a reference point), but that they can also provide insight into how the artists view their own works. It’s a fascinating chapter that lovingly critiques Morrison’s work, both in its differences and similarities to other works, and seeks not to monumentalize or memorialize her, but rather to further rearrange the puzzle pieces of her works to evoke a new or reimagined image. She used a bingo card to present some of the recurring themes, motifs, characters, and images that help readers better understand possible meanings in Morrison’s work. It’s both brilliant and funny. In addition, this chapter also focuses on Morrison’s experiments, and the many failures or the abandoned projects that were never midwifed into publication. This was also fascinating to read, and it was also a reminder of how even Nobel Laureates and the greats of American Literature even sometimes struggle with the writing process. I really enjoyed Dr. Serpell’s critiques of Morrison’s poetry, which I didn’t even know existed. However, it was the analysis of A Mercy, a book I read 17 years ago, shortly after it was first published, and really struggled to make meaning of it. Dr. Serpell’s analysis was clear, thoughtful, and provided much to consider. I loved seeing how A Mercy was in dialogue with other books from Morrison’s worlds. Reading this analysis definitely made me want to revisit the book to see many of the characters, stories, symbols, and language that I missed on my initial, isolated read.
Other chapters focus on specific texts- mostly novels, but one chapter focuses Morrison’s short story “Recitatif”, which was another experiment in removing racial identifiers from the main characters. I looked forward to reading each chapter, savoring them, going back to re-read longer passages of analysis and finding agreement with the connections and conclusions Dr. Serpell delivers. I think that Beloved was probably my favorite chapter, just because it’s a novel I’ve read and taught so many times, yet I learned so much more from this. While I recognize Beloved is a haunted house, ghost, and even a possession story, I never thought about the book in relation to the popular horror of the 80s, like Stephen King and Anne Rice. However, a few years ago, I read Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and James Welch’s Fools Crow, which were both published around the same time as Beloved. I couldn’t help but wonder if these books influenced Morrison at all. Similarly, when reading the chapter focused on The Bluest Eye, about the isolation and deprivation of Pecola, I wondered whether Morrison may have been influenced by McCarthy’s dark tale of isolation and alienation Child of God, or Welch’s earlier novel Winter in the Blood, which is another tale of fragmentation and identity. Although this book was published later than The Bluest Eye, maybe Welch read Morrison’s book and was influenced. I also kept thinking about Ayi Kwei Armah’s Fragments, another book I read for an African Literature course that has haunted me for nearly 30 years. This is another book about the power of colonization and corporations to created a fragmented sense of identity, where the main character truly loses a sense of his self due to the westernization of Ghana. It was published around the same time as The Bluest Eye, so I’m not sure if Morrison had any advanced notice of it, or maybe it was just something in the chronotope of the time period. It’s been more than 20 years since I read The Bluest Eye, and it’s not necessarily a book I want to revisit immediately, but reading Dr. Serpell’s analysis and connections made me want to revisit these texts to see how Morrison may have been in dialogue with some other writers of her time.
In addition, I couldn’t help but think of Sarah Chihaya’s memoir Blbliophobia, where she recounts her close emotional connection to reading and texts. Chihaya mentioned that The Bluest Eye was the text that she referred to as a “life ruiner,” since it opened her eyes to racism and self-hatred. Although I didn’t have the same experience, I do agree that reading Toni Morrison is an emotional and evocative experience. It’s transcendent and moving, a rare, but important experience that some of us may have when reading or engaging with great art that maybe doesn’t make us feel great, but that makes us feel a range of emotions, helping us to be more empathetic and understanding. Reading Namwali Serpell’s On Morrison was a thick love experience, like Sethe tells Paul D. “Thin love ain’t no love at all.” Dr. Serpell’s book, like most of Morrison’s books, is a loving experience, and one that is particularly thick in love. I could go on and on about this book, but I highly recommend it. Again, thanks to Random House and NetGalley, but more importantly thanks to Dr. Serpell for her brilliant writing and analysis about Toni Morrison. I will be revisiting this book, and it is one that I would share excerpts with students as well. Just an incredible read!
February 23, 2026
Namwali Serpell, a Harvard Professor, is first and foremost, a Toni Morrison fan. To me, her love of Morrison precedes her scholarly work On Morrison; the biggest evidence of this to me is just how accessible each analysis is, while still being in-depth and insightful in many unexpected ways. In this collection, Serpell simply writes about what Morrison does well as a writer (and in certain cases, what she doesn't), and conveys that via essays that march through the oeuvre novel-by-novel (and in some cases, nonfiction or short story or terrible (!) poem).
Who is On Morrison for? Me, I think: I wasn't the most attentive nor capable reader-of-words growing up, but I did LOVE to write, to put words onto the page. It wasn't until AP English Language, where we studied Toni Morrison's Beloved, that I realized that, yes, I could read as well as write. It was a formative experience. I felt like my reading world had been cracked open by that book. I remember loving it so much that I read it twice that year (my very first time re-reading a novel), getting trouble in my Pre-Calculus class because I couldn't put it down--
See? Lovers of Toni Morrison can't help but talk about the time her work changed their lives, and Serpell is no exception. Often, Serpell will mention how Morrison has influenced her own work, and never doing so in a "Look at me"-type fashion, but in an admiring, almost reverent way. So back to the question: who is On Morrison for? I would probably best recommend it to folks who have already read the books being discussed here (which is, truthfully, all of them), especially if you don't want to be spoiled or influenced by someone else's reading. Or, you could go a la carte, novel-by-novel. The essays of On Morrison contain quite a bit of plot summary in their analyses, and though Serpell insists that the experience of the book is indifferent to the plots themselves, to me, the first step to falling in love with Morrison's writing is that initial confusion and bewilderment (e.g. it took me four readings to begin to process Paradise).
A lot of On Morrison felt like being in that AP English Language class, not due in any small part to Serpell's direct analysis of rhetorical devices in Morrison's work. Oddly like home. Yes, the arguments of these essays are more-or-less "this writing is SO good and here's why", with maybe a bit of a thematic throughline ('signifying' in Song of Solomon, the prevalence of numbers in Paradise), but ultimately it felt like someone else earnestly nerding out over Toni Morrison.
The essay collection is also bookended by more general thoughts about Morrison as a figure, which contextualize her as a black woman in the world of literature: the first, "On Difficulty", referencing the many YouTube clips that I first saw as a young and budding Morrison-head ("There is something distorted about the psyche!"), and the latter "On Monuments", reflecting on her death and her legacy, which cautions against the edification of Morrison as a figure. What caused Morrison to become Morrison was, of course, the work itself. Why a park bench or a statue when the books do all the talking?
Though, as Serpell notes in her concluding essay, the creation of those very books involved Morrison in heavy dialogue with herself. Shocking to learn that the legendary penultimate line of Beloved had a different syntactical object in a prior draft than it did in its final version. As precise as Morrison's prose is in her final products, it's also heartening to know that she suffered, endured, and engaged in the artistic process like anyone else. I mean, obviously, but that's what monuments do: strip the humanity from the human, turn "Morrison" from a name to a concept. And so, in this very human and personal, yet academic and insightful essay collection, Serpell brings life to the crackling humanity of Morrison and her work, work that makes Morrison's readers feel all the more human for reading, digesting, and loving it.
Who is On Morrison for? Me, I think: I wasn't the most attentive nor capable reader-of-words growing up, but I did LOVE to write, to put words onto the page. It wasn't until AP English Language, where we studied Toni Morrison's Beloved, that I realized that, yes, I could read as well as write. It was a formative experience. I felt like my reading world had been cracked open by that book. I remember loving it so much that I read it twice that year (my very first time re-reading a novel), getting trouble in my Pre-Calculus class because I couldn't put it down--
See? Lovers of Toni Morrison can't help but talk about the time her work changed their lives, and Serpell is no exception. Often, Serpell will mention how Morrison has influenced her own work, and never doing so in a "Look at me"-type fashion, but in an admiring, almost reverent way. So back to the question: who is On Morrison for? I would probably best recommend it to folks who have already read the books being discussed here (which is, truthfully, all of them), especially if you don't want to be spoiled or influenced by someone else's reading. Or, you could go a la carte, novel-by-novel. The essays of On Morrison contain quite a bit of plot summary in their analyses, and though Serpell insists that the experience of the book is indifferent to the plots themselves, to me, the first step to falling in love with Morrison's writing is that initial confusion and bewilderment (e.g. it took me four readings to begin to process Paradise).
A lot of On Morrison felt like being in that AP English Language class, not due in any small part to Serpell's direct analysis of rhetorical devices in Morrison's work. Oddly like home. Yes, the arguments of these essays are more-or-less "this writing is SO good and here's why", with maybe a bit of a thematic throughline ('signifying' in Song of Solomon, the prevalence of numbers in Paradise), but ultimately it felt like someone else earnestly nerding out over Toni Morrison.
The essay collection is also bookended by more general thoughts about Morrison as a figure, which contextualize her as a black woman in the world of literature: the first, "On Difficulty", referencing the many YouTube clips that I first saw as a young and budding Morrison-head ("There is something distorted about the psyche!"), and the latter "On Monuments", reflecting on her death and her legacy, which cautions against the edification of Morrison as a figure. What caused Morrison to become Morrison was, of course, the work itself. Why a park bench or a statue when the books do all the talking?
Though, as Serpell notes in her concluding essay, the creation of those very books involved Morrison in heavy dialogue with herself. Shocking to learn that the legendary penultimate line of Beloved had a different syntactical object in a prior draft than it did in its final version. As precise as Morrison's prose is in her final products, it's also heartening to know that she suffered, endured, and engaged in the artistic process like anyone else. I mean, obviously, but that's what monuments do: strip the humanity from the human, turn "Morrison" from a name to a concept. And so, in this very human and personal, yet academic and insightful essay collection, Serpell brings life to the crackling humanity of Morrison and her work, work that makes Morrison's readers feel all the more human for reading, digesting, and loving it.
February 19, 2026
Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Random House for the ARC of On Morrison.
Author / Professor Namwali Serpell uses On Morrison to focus on Morrison’s writings, focusing on a different book in each chapter. In the chapter that covers the book Sula, Serpell highlights names of characters; on verbal wit and “playing the dozens” in the chapter on Song of Solomon; and stereotypes throughout culture and language in the chapter on Tar Baby. Serpell does a fine job of tying the themes covered in each chapter and tying them back to Morrison’s history as a writer or her personal life story, depending on the topic. Serpell even includes a critical look at Morrison’s poetry, an area of work that has not drawn the same attention as the novels Morrison has written. The chapters and the introduction shows the scholarly eye used by Serpell throughout the book, and is a fine read and reflection of Morrison’s work. I highly recommend On Morrison.
Author / Professor Namwali Serpell uses On Morrison to focus on Morrison’s writings, focusing on a different book in each chapter. In the chapter that covers the book Sula, Serpell highlights names of characters; on verbal wit and “playing the dozens” in the chapter on Song of Solomon; and stereotypes throughout culture and language in the chapter on Tar Baby. Serpell does a fine job of tying the themes covered in each chapter and tying them back to Morrison’s history as a writer or her personal life story, depending on the topic. Serpell even includes a critical look at Morrison’s poetry, an area of work that has not drawn the same attention as the novels Morrison has written. The chapters and the introduction shows the scholarly eye used by Serpell throughout the book, and is a fine read and reflection of Morrison’s work. I highly recommend On Morrison.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A fascinating look at a towering author whose work is too often treated to reductive or tendentious readings that seek to further contribute to Morrison's well-deserved canonization in American literature. What remains most fascinating about Serpell's readings is her steadfast commitment to reading Morrison, turning us repeatedly to the texts themselves as well as great archival materials in order to wrestle with their difficulty, a difficulty so often elided in mass cultural reception of Morrison as a reparative, identitarian writer. This is particularly the case in Serpell's fantastic chapter on Beloved. Serpell's essays bring Morrison back to us in all her beauty and complexity.
February 21, 2026
A luminous dive into memory, art, and the enduring echoes of Toni Morrison’s legacy.
Namwali Serpell’s prose is as intricate as it is lyrical, weaving together biography, reflection, and literary homage. At times, the narrative meanders, but it feels purposeful—inviting readers to sit with ideas rather than just events.
Serpell’s insight into Morrison’s life and work is sharp and tender, with explorations of race, storytelling, and cultural memory that linger long after the last page. The blend of personal reflection and literary analysis creates a rare, immersive experience.
Perfect for fans of literary biography and anyone eager to feel Morrison’s presence anew.
Namwali Serpell’s prose is as intricate as it is lyrical, weaving together biography, reflection, and literary homage. At times, the narrative meanders, but it feels purposeful—inviting readers to sit with ideas rather than just events.
Serpell’s insight into Morrison’s life and work is sharp and tender, with explorations of race, storytelling, and cultural memory that linger long after the last page. The blend of personal reflection and literary analysis creates a rare, immersive experience.
Perfect for fans of literary biography and anyone eager to feel Morrison’s presence anew.
February 23, 2026
Harvard English professor Namwali Serpell's On Morrison is an academically rigorous and illuminating in-depth study of Toni Morrison's literary works. In it, Serpell dives deep, analyzing each novel and written piece with an exhaustive eye towards wordplay, mythology, metaphor, narrative structure, and literary devices. While there are glimpses of Toni Morrison and myriad insights about the notoriously thorny woman, Nobel Laureate, and the first Black female editor at Random House throughout, On Morrison is an insightful scholarly examination of Morrison's body of work; it is not a biography. Serpell is here to school you...Read it and be enlightened.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
An incredibly detailed and deep look into the works of Toni Morrison, one book (mostly) at a time. Serpell is such a thorough and thoughtful reader and writer. She is sleuth-like in how she unpacks all of the complexities in Morrison's work, and she takes great care to give Morrison the rigorous analysis she deserves. My only complaint is that this book is dense, and reading it all the way through it got overwhelming by the end. I would suggest reading this slowly over time (even returning to it as you read the books she unpacks).
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book was not exactly what I was expecting. I thought I would learn a little more about Morrison as well as her works but it was mostly a breakdown of each of her works and what certain phrases could signify. It felt like being in high school English class again. The analysis was great and spot on but it was not the kind of book I was looking to read.
February 21, 2026
Will re-read in greater detail as I work my way through Morrison's books.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews