JazzJazz

From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner, a passionate, profound story of love and obsession that brings us back and forth in time, as a narrative is assembled from the emotions, hopes, fears, and deep realities of Black urban life. With a foreword by the author.

“As rich in themes and poetic images as her Pulitzer Prize–winning Beloved.... Morrison conjures up the hand of slavery on Harlem’s jazz generation. The more you listen, the more you crave to hear.” —Glamour

In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees nothing but good things ahead, Joe Trace, middle-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe’s wife, Violet, attacks the girl’s corpse. This novel “transforms a familiar refrain of jilted love into a bold, sustaining time of self-knowledge and discovery. Its rhythms are infectious” (People).

"The author conjures up worlds with complete authority and makes no secret of her angst at the injustices dealt to Black women.” —The New York Times Book Review

In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees nothing but good things ahead, Joe Trace, middle-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe's wife, Violet, attacks the girl's corpse. This passionate, profound story of love and obsession brings us back and forth in time, as a narrative is assembled from the emotions, hopes, fears, and deep realities of black urban life.

"The author conjures up worlds with complete authority and makes no secret of her angst at the injustices dealt to black women.' 'The New York Times Book Review

'transforms a familiar refrain of jilted love into a bold, sustaining time of self-knowledge and discovery. Its rhythms are infectious.' 'People
Set in Harlem during the 1920s, this novel chronicles a bittersweet triangle involving Joe Trace, a middle-aged door-to-door salesman, his mentally unstable wife Violet, and his eighteen-year-old girlfriend. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.
Set in Harlem during the 1920s, this novel chronicles a bittersweet triangle involving Joe Trace, a middle-aged door-to-door salesman, his mentally unstable wife Violet, and his eighteen-year-old girlfriend.