Paradise Reconsidered: Toni Morrison's (hi)stories and Truths

"In this first book-length study of Paradise, Justine Tally securely links the work to Morrison's entire oeuvre and effectively argues that while all of the novels of the trilogy are deeply analytical of the relationship of memory, story and history, the focus of this latest novel is the role of memory and story in the production of historical narrative: memory is fickle, story is unreliable, and history is subject to manipulation. A master narrative of the past is again dictated by the dominant discourse, but this time the control exerted is black and male, not white and male. Though this stranglehold threatens to deaden life and put the future on hold, Morrison's narrative disruptions challenge the very nature of this "paradise" on earth." "With these considerations, "Paradise" Reconsidered locates the author at the center of the on-going literary and cultural debates of the late 20th century: the post-modern discussion of history, particularly Afro-centrist history, the production of knowledge, the class divisions that are shattering the black community, and questions of "race" and essentialism. What does it mean to be "black"? And who is the white girl anyway?" --Book Jacket.