Jazz (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Toni Morrison
- First Published: 1992
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1873-1926
- Setting: Harlem, rural Virginia, and East St. Louis
- Principal Characters: Joe Trace, Violet Trace, Dorcas, Alice Manfred, Rose Dear, Henry Lestory, Wild, Felice
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: African Americans, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Blacks, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, New York City, Harlem Renaissance, 1920’s, Adultery
- Locales: Virginia, Harlem, NY
In 1987, Toni Morrison achieved a decisive plateau in her career with her fifth novel, Beloved, a Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller that solidified her position as the leading African American novelist of her generation. With Jazz, on the other hand, Morrison has dared to risk her established position by writing a novel that is less masterful and confident, more exploratory and tentative. She begins Jazz not in the rural and small-town settings that are her recognized forte, but in Harlem in the 1920’s; and she uses the novel to explore her mixed feelings about...
[The entire page is 3146 words long]
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