Subjects the Nobel laureate’s work to rigorous inspection — with thrilling results ... Serpell climbed an intellectual, scholastic, academic mountain and discovered what I imagine she already knew before reporting for duty. Morrison is up there for good reason.
Graceful, exhilarating ... Serpell deserves consideration for a major prize. Mostly she deserves our gratitude and admiration: On Morrison gives us, in precise yet supple prose, a close reading in action and an exemplar of literary criticism (distinct from book criticism, a journalistic form). This book will spur you to pore overt the master’s achievements.
On Morrison offers readers who can tell their Soaphead Church from their Schoolteacher something they have long hoped for: a rigorous appraisal of the work ... She does Morrison the respect of reading her seriously. Across the book’s 12 essays, she identifies and critiques narrative strategies, puzzles over craft choices, compares formal techniques across novels, and chases edits and revisions in the archives ... One reason On Morrison was such a joy to read is that I felt guided by a writer who shares both my admiration and my fear of lionising.
Serpell combines a professorial breadth of reference and a novelist’s fascination with the mechanics of literature. Her erudite digressions and granular readings add up to a kind of literary procedural ... Serpell doesn’t deliver a big takeaway. That isn’t her style. Her gift is reading closely ... I applaud her nerve.
Illuminating and fascinating ... Academic yet accessible, this astute collection offers insight and fresh perspectives and will appeal to readers new to and deeply familiar with Morrison’s vital body of work.
A vital addition to this already rich conversation ... An astonishing collection of close readings that is an asset to Morrison scholarship, enriching, complicating and, at times, challenging what we have come to know and love about this literary titan.
