Toni at Random - by Dana A Williams (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

NPR SPRING PICK

An insightful exploration that unveils the lesser-known dimensions of this legendary writer and her legacy, revealing the cultural icon's profound impact as a visionary editor who helped define an important period in American publishing and literature.

A multifaceted genius, Toni Morrison transcended her role as an author, helping to shape an important period in American publishing and literature as an editor at one of the nation's most prestigious publishing houses. While Toni Morrison's literary achievements are widely celebrated, her editorial work is little known. Drawing on extensive research and firsthand accounts, this comprehensive study discusses Morrison's remarkable journey from her early days at Random House to her emergence as one of its most important editors. During her tenure in editorial, Morrison refashioned the literary landscape, working with important authors, including Toni Cade Bambara, Leon Forrest, and Lucille Clifton, and empowering cultural icons such as Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali to tell their stories on their own terms.

Toni Morrison herself had great enthusiasm about Dana Williams's work on this story, generously sharing memories and thoughts with the author over the years, even giving her the book's title. From the manuscripts she molded, the authors she nurtured, and the readers she inspired, Toni at Random demonstrates how Toni Morrison has influenced American culture beyond the individual titles or authors she published. Morrison's contribution as an editor transformed the broader literary landscape and deepened the cultural conversation. With unparalleled insight and sensitivity, Toni at Random charts this editorial odyssey.

Review Quotes

"Toni Morrison is best known as one of the world's most significant novelists, but in this meticulously researched work Dana Williams introduces us to Morrison the literary editor, who shaped American publishing by introducing a generation of new voices and topics to the reading public. Through Williams we come to see Morrison's editorial work, along with her fiction, as part of a larger visionary project that was nothing short of transformative. Toni at Random is a major accomplishment." -- Farah Jasmine Griffin, William B. Ransford Professor of English & Comparative Literature and African American and African Diaspora Studies. Author of Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature (W.W. Norton Press, Fall 2021)

"The more we learn about Toni Morrison, the more in awe we are of her gifts and her incredible range as a writer, intellectual and now we meet her as a literary activist and editor. Dana A. Williams rises to the challenge of documenting the workings of a genius, by demonstrating a mighty brilliance of her own. We have in our hands a masterpiece-- a scholarly page turner, dwelling at the intersection of meticulous research, abiding passion, and tremendous respect." -- Tayari Jones, author of American Marriage.

"In this essential work, Williams not only reveals the genius of Morrison as editor of some of the nation's most iconic writers, she provides an insider's view of mainstream publishing during a golden age of Black authors and literature. Toni at Random is a cultural treasure." -- Paula J. Giddings, E.A.Woodson Professor emerita of Smith College and the author of IDA, A Sword Among Lions, Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching

"I flew through these pages. With a dazzling array of characters who become household authorial names and an editor who was as perceptive as she was assertive, 'Toni at Random' is an outstanding exaltation to the legend of the woman herself who birthed so many generations of Black artists alongside and after her." -- Morgan Jerkins, author of Zeal and This Will Be My Undoing

"Toni at Random stands as a towering accomplishment for Dana Williams. Readers, historians, and students of literature are now in Williams' debt... Toni Morrison was responsible for much of what we read as we matured, as our literature became mainstream. By offering Morrison's editorial history to stand beside her literary production, Dana Williams has proven, again, that Toni Morrison is and was indomitable. In Toni at Random, Dana Williams brings receipts." -- A.J. Verdelle, Author of Miss Chloe: A Memoir of a Literary Friendship with Toni Morrison

"This book can be seen as a handbook for editing during a rapidly changing cultural period, how to patiently, diplomatically, or even bluntly help a creative spirit discover his/her true vision in a work. It certainly and effectively presents another dimension to Morrison's stature as an ever-important contributor to African American and therefore American culture." -- John McCluskey, Jr. Professor Emeritus Dept. of African American and African Diaspora Studies

A well-researched biographical study. -- Kirkus Reviews