Jazz (novel)

Jazz

First edition cover
Author Toni Morrison
Country United States
Language English
Genre Historical novel
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date
1992
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 229
ISBN 0-679-41167-4

Jazz is a 1992 historical novel by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning American author Toni Morrison. The majority of the narrative takes place in Harlem during the 1920s; however, as the pasts of the various characters are explored, the narrative extends back to the mid-19th century American South.

The novel forms the second part of Morrison's Dantesque trilogy on African American history, beginning with Beloved and ending with Paradise.

Narrative style and themes

The novel deliberately mirrors the music of its title, with various characters "improvising" solo compositions that fit together to create a whole work. The tone of the novel also shifts with these compositions, from bluesy laments to up beat, sensual ragtime. The novel also utilizes the call and response style of Jazz music, allowing the characters to explore the same events from different perspectives.

This book utilizes the style of "untrustworthy narrators", in which reality is altered slightly by the storyteller's emotions and perspective. Narration switches every so often to the viewpoint of various characters, inanimate objects, and even concepts. The book's final narrator is widely believed to be Morrison or perhaps the book itself.[1]

Two of the main themes of the novel are purgatory and Jazz music.

Characters

References


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