An NPR Best Book of the Year
“‘Recitatif’ . . . is ambitious, pointed, and surprisingly playful when it comes to race. Morrison described it as ‘an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial’. . . . So shrewd and economical is Morrison’s storytelling, so tightly controlled is her experiment. ‘Recitatif’ is brilliant and worthy of space in your brain and bookshelf.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Nobel laureate Morrison’s only short story, originally published in 1983 and now as a slender, elegant volume enhanced by Smith’s insightful introduction, is a knockout. . . . In her captivating story, Morrison ingeniously leads readers to challenge racial stereotypes and consider nuanced power dynamics with questions that linger beyond the last page.”
—The National Book Review
“When I return to ‘Recitatif,’ it is with a renewed understanding that, along with a handful of other African Americans, Morrison was among the first to depict Black culture while also considering politics, while also considering United States history, while also considering white supremacy, while also considering economic class, while also considering gender, while also considering intergenerational trauma. As the kids might say, Toni Morrison did that.”
—Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, New York Times Book Review
“Strikingly relevant. . . . We can never tell definitively which woman is White and which is Black. It shouldn’t matter, but it does. The story constantly tempts us to test our racial attitudes about clothing, food, hair, even money. . . . This is the perfect text for a country still vigorously debating the relevance of race. But the singular quality of this story makes it worthwhile, especially because the book contains a long, thoughtful introduction by Zadie Smith, who says, rightly, that ‘Recitatif’ should sit alongside ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’ and ‘The Lottery’ ‘as a perfect—and perfectly American—tale’. . . . Smith’s illuminating discussion . . . provides a close reading and examines the way racial categories function in our allegedly post-racial culture.”
—Ron Charles, Washington Post
“Page for page, it is as powerful and audacious an exploration of racial bias in America as her 11 novels. . . . profoundly thought-provoking. Even four decades after this story was written, readers are ineluctably drawn into a quandary about which character is white and which is Black. But here’s the brilliance of Morrison’s experiment: Each conjecture exposes the reader’s own racial preconceptions. . . . ‘Recitatif’ is a shrewd feat of composition and social commentary. . . . Its short length would make it an ideal, accessible selection for book groups and community-wide reading programs, sure to spark self-scrutiny and discussion. Both timely and timeless, it’s a story I can’t recommend highly enough.”
—Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor
“Toni Morrison spoke often about the incoherence of race. . . . While maintaining that there is no such thing as race, the acclaimed writer and Nobel laureate explored extensively through her work how living in a society structured around this artificial category shaped the lives of her characters. Those very ideas are at the heart of ‘Recitatif’. The story is a puzzle of sorts, as Smith writes in the introduction, because Morrison never explicitly reveals the racial identity of either character. . . . Morrison challenges the reader's impulse to neatly categorize people and forces them to consider other markers: disability, gender, class. . . . Though ‘Recitatif’ was written decades earlier, the themes it deals with and the questions it poses, remain relevant as ever.”
—CNN.com
“To much of the world the late Toni Morrison was a novelist, celebrated for such classics as Beloved, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye. But the Nobel laureate did not confine herself to one kind of writing. . . . In her introduction, Smith likens ‘Recitatif’ to a puzzle or a game, while warning that ‘Toni Morrison does not play.’ Throughout the story, Morrison will refer to everything from hair length to social status as if to challenge the reader’s own racial assumptions.”
—AP News
“Morrison’s only published short story is reissued here with an illuminating foreword by Zadie Smith. . . . Like much of Morrison’s work, this story is a deceptively simple and intricate indictment of the ludicrousness of racism.”
—Buzzfeed, “26 Books to Get Excited About This Year”
“Morrison’s sharp-eyed treatment of race, racism, and racial hierarchies remains relevant, digging deep into the marrow of society’s maladies.”
—Literary Hub, “Most Anticipated Books of 2022”
“[‘Recitatif’] stands resoundingly on its own. . . . Endlessly ponderable. In her substantial and enlightening introduction, Zadie Smith quotes Morrison, whom she describes as ‘the great master of American complexity,’ explaining that this tale is ‘an experiment in the removal of all racial codes.’ This is a profound and foundation-rocking conundrum of a story.”
—Booklist
“[A] stunning work. . . . An illuminating introduction. . . .[Morrison’s] experiment pays off brilliantly, forcing the reader to consider racial stereotypes while also providing an indelible story. The gravitas and unparalleled skill found in Morrison’s best-known work is on full display in this compact powerhouse.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A thought experiment, illuminated here by Smith's close analysis of equal length. . . . On every page, Morrison teases said reader with details about the girls, their mothers, and their lots in life that seem like they could help solve the puzzle of which is Black and which is White, yet they never conclusively do so. And as the story is designed to show and Smith will make sure you see, that is not the most important thing. . . . A uniquely interesting and enlightening reading experience.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
06/01/2022
Nobel Laureate Morrison's only short story, originally published in 1983, is now available as a stand-alone edition with an insightful introduction by novelist Zadie Smith. The audio is sensitively rendered by consummate narrator, Bahni Turpin. The story follows two girls, Twyla and Roberta, who first meet at a state institution when they are children, and whose lives continue to intersect over the ensuing decades. Morrison described this story as an "experiment," for, while listeners know that one of the girls is Black, and the other is white, Morrison refuses to say which is which. As Smith points out in her introduction, Morrison's "puzzle of a story, then a game" forces listeners to confront their own carefully guarded conceptions of race, as they constantly search for clues to the girls' racial identities, only to ask themselves why they are so intent on knowing. Turpin's skillful narration beautifully complements Morrison's words. With fluidity and grace, Turpin captures the quicksilver turns of this story, seamlessly communicating the many emotions—affection, understanding, regret, and anger—that make this story so much more than it seems. VERDICT This powerful and important production is not to be missed.—Sarah Hashimoto
09/01/2021
The only short story Nobel laureate Morrison ever wrote, "Recitatif" concerns Twyla and Roberta, friends in childhood, who lost touch as adults but keep encountering each other at places like a grocery store, a diner, and a protest march. One is white, one is black, but readers don't know which is which, Morrison having aimed to craft "an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial." Bearing an introduction by Zadie Smith, this is the story's first-time appearance as a stand-alone. When Verdelle published the Good Negress in 1995, she won early praise from Morrison. The novel went on to claim the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award and PEN/Faulkner finalist honors, but Verdelle's next novel—a Western featuring Black characters—has languished. Nevertheless, the novel led to a friendship with Morrison, detailed here along with Verdelle's early struggles to write and thoughts on what it means to be considered a writer with promise, still struggling. Originally scheduled for September 2021.
This new audio version of Toni Morrison’s only short story highlights the brilliance of three Black women: Morrison, obviously; Zadie Smith, who reads her own thoughtful and moving introduction with sparkling curiosity; and narrator Bahni Turpin, whose vocal talents are on full display. The story, which Morrison wrote in 1980 and described as an “experiment,” follows two characters from their girlhood at a state institution into their adult lives. Their races are left deliberately ambiguous. One is Black, and one white, but listeners are left guessing which is which. Turpin beautifully characterizes both women, capturing the deftness of Morrison’s prose. It’s fitting that such a unique story, written by one of America’s greatest writers, is brought to life by one of the most gifted narrators working today. L.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
This new audio version of Toni Morrison’s only short story highlights the brilliance of three Black women: Morrison, obviously; Zadie Smith, who reads her own thoughtful and moving introduction with sparkling curiosity; and narrator Bahni Turpin, whose vocal talents are on full display. The story, which Morrison wrote in 1980 and described as an “experiment,” follows two characters from their girlhood at a state institution into their adult lives. Their races are left deliberately ambiguous. One is Black, and one white, but listeners are left guessing which is which. Turpin beautifully characterizes both women, capturing the deftness of Morrison’s prose. It’s fitting that such a unique story, written by one of America’s greatest writers, is brought to life by one of the most gifted narrators working today. L.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
★ 2022-01-26
The only short story ever written by the Nobel Prize–winning Morrison is also a thought experiment, illuminated here by Zadie Smith's close analysis of equal length.
Twyla and Roberta are both 8 years old when they meet at a New York state institution where they are briefly housed—because, as Twyla tells us in the first sentence, “My mother danced all night and [Roberta’s] was sick.” They connect immediately despite the fact that “we looked like salt and pepper standing there and that’s what the other kids called us sometimes.” The girls run into each other several times later in life but never recapture their childhood connection. Among the wedges between them are their differing memories of an incident they witnessed involving a bow-legged “kitchen woman” named Maggie. Now, listen up: If you only remember one thing about this review, remember to skip over the 50-page introduction and read the 50-page story first. Just as students read the text before they hear the lecture, Smith's exegesis is much more meaningful if you know the story. If you read the intro first, you forfeit the ability to apprehend the story on your own, more critical than usual here since the issue goes beyond spoilers. According to Morrison herself, this story is “an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial.” And as Smith adds, the “subject of the experiment is the reader.” On every page, Morrison teases said reader with details about the girls, their mothers, and their lots in life that seem like they could help solve the puzzle of which is Black and which is White, yet they never conclusively do so. And as the story is designed to show and Smith will make sure you see, that is not the most important thing.
A uniquely interesting and enlightening reading experience.
