Tar Baby

I have read or listened to most of Toni Morrison's earlier work. This one is different in that it takes place in rather modern times- circa 1981, a time some contemporaries might have blindly assumed was enlightened and free of the old-time scourge of racism. (In my millennial mind even, I would have thought this era very similar to today's society but without cell phones.) The story deals with the concepts of class, station, and race as so intrinsically woven into our beings as to be as difficult to rid oneself of as a criminal record. There are the usual elements we love Ms. Morrison for: the beautiful word paintings; interesting, sometimes comical, characters; mind-broadening topics of race; even a glimmer of the paranormal. And there are ALSO the less-discussed usual elements we SECRETLY love: something explicitly sexual, something jaw-droppingly horrific, something just a little nasty, etc. The beginning starts slow and terribly dull, but is greatly enhanced by Alfre Woodard's consistent voices. She does at least four distinct female characters and two distinct male voices (but there are almost never more than two men in the same room). I found this story quite relevant to the issue of "post-racial" denial and those latent micro-aggressions we are still grappling with today. The ending is abrupt and at first dissatisying, but once contemplated, actually a bit magical- like something out of 'The Twilight Zone'.

I gave it 5 stars because the words are so beautiful - there’s really nothing like this book - it is the Brair Rabbit function of grifters that pop into our lives for seasons - we’ve all had one! So people are a complete and train wreck but I learned a lot Thru the characters - great character development - just be warned, the vernacular realllly vulgar and the story while realllllly well told, it is an exhausting story. If you are a person of deep empathy, this will be very heavy for ya