01/11/2021
Tillet (Sites of Slavery ), New York Times critic-at-large, surveys nearly 40 years of cultural grappling in this insightful account of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel The Color Purple . The novel became the first work by a Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and Tillet recounts the novel’s history, covering the controversy it stirred up when published, notably for its “use of a black dialect and its celebration of lesbianism.” Walker later came under fire, as well, for allowing the movie adaptation to be put in white hands. (Steven Spielberg directed it.) In addition to the history, Tillet mixes in her own experiences: “The novel’s main black women characters—Celie, Shug, and Sofia—have endured and emerged as guides that have imprinted themselves on me to help me heal,” she writes of returning to the novel after being sexually assaulted, struggling with an eating disorder, and contemplating suicide. Along the way, Tillet interviews Oprah Winfrey, who made her big-screen debut in the adaptation, and theater producer Scott Sanders, who persuaded Waters “that he, as a white, gay man from the Gulf Coast of Florida, was the right person to produce The Color Purple on Broadway.” Tillet’s passionate insights successfully imbue a classic novel with modern relevance. (Jan.)
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 affection.
author of Redefining Realness and Surpassing Certainty - Janet Mock
This book is a stunning act of devotion, a literary and personal excavation of one of the great novels of American literature, The Color Purple . Salamishah Tillet deepens and refreshes our understanding of the novel, movie, and Broadway play, reminds us of the fraught history of the novel’s publication, shows us how it has moved and transformed generations, and reveals how the controversial issues of sex, race, and gender are still as relevant and controversial today as they were then. Salamishah has allowed this extraordinary work of fiction to guide and heal her life, and her book does the same for us.
author of The Vagina Monologues and The Apology - Eve Ensler
This is a gripping and many-layered account of Walker’s life and her literary inspirations that continue to inspire subsequent generations and influencers, not least members of the #MeToo movement with its focus on addressing sexual and gender-based violence... an enthralling and emotional read.
New York Journal of Books
...a journey of uncovering and rediscovering how this beautiful tale was conceived, birthed, and has thrived for nearly four decades.
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 affection.”—Janet Mock , author of Redefining Realness and Surpassing Certainty The Color Purple is such a hymn. Alice Walker is its composer. And Salamishah Tillet, our conductor, lines this hymn for us, beautifully, so that we might all show up, text in hand, and sing its chorus, in tribute to the genius, care, and love of Alice Walker.”—Brittney Cooper , author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower The Color Purple . Salamishah Tillet deepens and refreshes our understanding of the novel, movie, and Broadway play, reminds us of the fraught history of the novel’s publication, shows us how it has moved and transformed generations, and reveals how the controversial issues of sex, race, and gender are still as relevant and controversial today as they were then. Salamishah has allowed this extraordinary work of fiction to guide and heal her life, and her book does the same for us.”—Eve Ensler , author of The Vagina Monologues and The Apology 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 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 Kirkus Booklist The Color Purple , exploring its controversies, triumphs, legacies and lessons.”—Ms. Magazine VICE Elle Library Journal Publishers Weekly “ 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…”—Garden & Gun New York Journal of Books
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.
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.
Founder of the Me Too movement - Tarana Burke
Tillet comes to a deeper understanding of the novel, Walker, and herself in this revelatory and memorable blend of biography, autobiography, and insightful homage to a literary icon.
Scholar and activist Salamishah Tillet has written the essential companion to Alice Walker’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple , exploring its controversies, triumphs, legacies and lessons.
We need reminders of the stories that have brought us over, the hymns and spirituals and freedom songs our people sang. The Color Purple is such a hymn. Alice Walker is its composer. And Salamishah Tillet, our conductor, lines this hymn for us, beautifully, so that we might all show up, text in hand, and sing its chorus, in tribute to the genius, care, and love of Alice Walker.
author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower - Brittney Cooper
“ 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…”
…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.
01/01/2021
In this moving narrative, Tillet (English, Rutgers-Newark; Sites of Slavery ) explores how The Color Purple (1982) shaped and continues to shape readers. For the author, this involved traveling to Northern California to speak with Walker about her National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning book and interviewing figures such as Gloria Steinem, who wrote the foreword to this work. Walker tells of basing the character of Celie on her grandmother along with the difficulties of critics misinterpreting the intent of her words. What also emerges is a personal recounting of how Tillet discovered The Color Purple , notably, how she resonated with Celie, as a teenager recovering from sexual assault, while Shug embodied who she wanted to become. This is the strength of the work, as is Tillet reminding readers of the criticism The Color Purple received upon publication as well as ongoing challenges from libraries because of its portrayals of lesbianism and sexual assault. Later, Tillet considers the lasting impact of the 1985 film and 2005 musical based on the book, including Walker's thoughts on both. VERDICT Tillet writes a necessary account of how Walker's centering the lives of Black women has transformed literature. Accessibly written, this book will engage both longtime fans and those new to Walker's writing.—Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal
2020-11-03
Melding memoir, biography, and cultural criticism, Tillet, a professor, activist, and scholar of African American studies, uses Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple , published in 1982, as a mirror for portraying Black women’s experiences in American life over nearly 40 years. In conversations with Tillet, Walker spoke candidly about her early years, literary influences, and the challenges she faced in getting published; after sending an excerpt to Essence magazine, for example, she received a terse reply: “Black people don’t talk like that.” Although the novel was awarded both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, it incited considerable controversy, not only for Walker’s use of Black dialect, but also “its celebration of lesbianism. The harshest criticism,” Tillet discovered, “came from other writers, mainly black men who accused Walker of reproducing racist stereotypes of them as hyperviolent rapists.” It was precisely Walker’s portrayal of violence to which Tillet, twice a victim of sexual assault, responded, and through her research, she found many others—including Oprah Winfrey—“who came across the book at such vulnerable points in their lives that the book became a talisman, with every subsequent return to it a way of marking time and healing wounds.” Tillet draws deftly on published and archival sources as well as interviews, including talks with Oprah, who made her screen debut in Steven Spielberg’s film of the novel, which received 11 Oscar nominations; and Scott Sanders, who brought the novel to Broadway as a musical, where it was nominated for multiple Tony awards. Because of the novel’s groundbreaking themes of sexual assault, same-sex desire, and the linking of sexism, racism, and classism, Walker, Tillet asserts, became “the face of black feminism,” an accolade with which Gloria Steinem, in an appreciative foreword, concurs.
An enriching study for the novel’s many devoted readers.
