Review: The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison
The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first thing one will want to do upon finishing this book is to go quickly ready everything else by Morrison that one has not read yet (that's where you'll find me), but this collection of essays, speeches, and other writings does many wonderful things, but first and foremost among them are Morrison illustrates her hyperfocus thought when it comes to the act of writing and how it results in layer upon layer within her writing. Getting the opportunity to see the mind behind so much of her work energizes one to go back and read (and reread) her work to soak in all that one might have missed. Additionally, in these writings, we get to see how much texture she drapes upon a sentence that this collection is in itself, another masterpiece. More importantly, I could see this being a book used for a book club wherein each time people meet, they discuss only one piece, since each piece could easily sustain thoughts and conversation for endless hours. The writings are smartly organized and engage in topics that obviously are tantamount to understanding and appreciating Morrison's work. They include things like memory, politics, history, identity, race/racism, language, and, of course, literature and fiction. If Beloved is the piece of literature she would be remembered by (and quite frankly, there are so many others that should be included beyond that), then The Source of Self-Regard should stand aside it as a complementary text that is more directly in conversation with the world and the readers.

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