Product Description
Mixing cultural criticism, literary history, biography, and memoir in an exploration of Alice Walker’s critically acclaimed and controversial novel, The Color Purple
Alice Walker made history in 1982 when she became the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, both for The Color Purple. Published in the Reagan Era amid a severe backlash to civil rights, the jazz age novel tells the story of an African-American woman haunted by domestic and sexual violence. Prominent academic and activist Salamishah Tillet combines cultural criticism, history, and memoir to explore Walker’s epistolary novel, and shows how it has influenced and been informed by the zeitgeist of the time.
The Color Purple received both praise and criticism upon publication, and the conversation it sparked around race and gender still continues today. It has been adapted for an Oscar-nominated film and a hit Broadway musical. Through interviews with Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, and others, as well as archival research, Tillet studies Walker’s life and the origins of her subjects, including violence, sexuality, gender, and politics. Reading
The Color Purple at age 15 was a groundbreaking experience for Tillet. It continues to resonate with her―as a sexual violence survivor, as a teacher of the novel, and as an accomplished academic. Provocative and personal,
In Search of the Color Purple is a bold work from an important public intellectual.
Review
"Tillet delves into the backstory of the novel, explores why Walker's book continues to resonate, and explains how the literary work became a cultural phenomenon, all while masterfully weaving together personal, cultural, and historical conversations about the text..."
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Garden & Gun
"...a journey of uncovering and rediscovering how this beautiful tale was conceived, birthed, and has thrived for nearly four decades."--
Elle
"...Salamishah Tillet continues the decades-long tradition of Black women unearthing other Black women's literature...In this continuous act of unearthing, Black women have helped each other breathe easier, see farther, and believe more deeply in the possibility of a world that cherishes their mundane, striking, broken, and full selves."--
VICE
"
The Color Purple is my all-time favorite film, hands down. The book is also one of my favorites, but watching the movie has particularly, over time, become a healing balm--almost a spiritual practice. Salamishah Tillet's book is a beautiful tribute to
The Color Purple, and a gift to those of us who are deeply connected to it. For others less tied to the stories of Celie, Shug, and Sofia, it is a history lesson and cautionary tale of what happens when a Black woman attempts to tell her truth publicly; something to be studied and learn from. This will be a necessary companion for all who engage with this story for years to come."--
Tarana Burke,
Founder of the Me Too movement
"An enriching study for the novel's many devoted readers."--
Kirkus
"One of my most cherished possessions is a copy of
The Color Purple, signed by Alice Walker and dated October 22, 1991. In case of fire, I keep it near my family photos to make sure it is not left behind.
In Search of The Color Purple delivers extraordinary insight into both the love and the struggle that made Ms. Walker's exquisitely crafted novel a masterpiece. After reading Salamishah Tillet's poignant book, neither readers nor writers will forget that it takes courage and audacity to write a novel that tells the reality of women's lives."--
Anita Hill
"Salamishah does what only great writers of literary criticism accomplish--she tells a story about a masterpiece without forgetting the extraordinary woman who crafted it and the legions of women made whole because of her work. A bold and vital tale that rightly treats Alice Walker's American classic as if it were a living, breathing being demanding our utmost attention and enduring aff
