The measure of our lives : a gathering of wisdom
(Book)

"Through bricolage -- construction or creation from a diverse range of available things -- this brief book aims to limn the totality of Toni Morrison's literary vision and achievement. It dramatizes the life of her powerful mind by juxtaposing quotations, one to a page, drawn from her entire body of work, both fiction and non-fiction -- from The Bluest Eye to God Help the Child, from Playing in the Dark to The Source of Self-Regard. Its compelling sequence of flashes of revelation -- stunning for their linguistic originality, keenness of psychological observation, and philosophical profundity -- addresses issues of abiding interest in Morrison's work: the reach of language for the ineffable; transcendence through imagination; the self and its discontents; the vicissitudes of love; the whirligig of memory; the singular power of women; the original American sin of slavery; the bankruptcy of racial oppression; the complex humanity and art of black people. THE MEASURE OF OUR LVIES brims with elegance of style and moral authority." -- Provided by publisher.