About this title: The household of Valerian and Margaret Street is disrupted when Son Green--the "tar baby" of the title--arrives at Christmas instead of their son Michael. The Streets' black servants, Sydney and Ondine Childs, are also affected by Son's visit: their niece Jadine falls in love with him, and his presence in the house forces Ondine's revelation of a long-held secret about the Street family. After the turmoil, when Jadine and Son try to fit into each other's very different lives, they find they must first of all come to terms with who they are, and how they fit into their families and society.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Plume Books
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780452264793ISBN:0452264790
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. VG+ unmarked, excellent reading copy, hinge tight. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Clean, no marks, very minor shelf wear some yellowing to paper read more
Edition: First Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: N A L, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780451122247ISBN:0451122240
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Light shelf wear. Solid copy with clean pages. read more
Edition: First Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: N A L, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780451122247ISBN:0451122240
Description: Very Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Slight browning to pages. Light shelf wear. Solid copy with clean pages. read more
Edition: 5th Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: N A L, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780451122247ISBN:0451122240
Description: Very Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Slight browning to pages. Light shelf wear. Solid copy with clean pages. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Plume Books
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780452260122ISBN:0452260124
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover and binding worn, otherwise book is tight and in good condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. 0451122240 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in good condition, varying degrees of shelf wear, some spine creases, m..._ read more
Edition: reprint
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Plume, New York, NY
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780452264793ISBN:0452264790
Description: Gently read trade paperback in very good condition with NO writing, highlighting, or dog-eared pages. Cover is very good with NO spine creasing. Slight spine lean noted. read more
Description: Very Good. 0452253268 Very Good condition, nice clean tight book, very mild wear to cover and/or pages, may have a name written inside front cover but no markings, ** Satisfaction Guaranteed ** Orders ship same or next business day. read more
Description: Good. 0452260124 Book is in good overall condition, cover and pages have some wear but no writing, marking or highlighting, great book ** Satisfaction Guaranteed ** Orders ship same or next business day. read more
"Some of the magical or dream-like passages were, still, over my head. I will read the book again in another couple years and perhaps "get it" then. A beautiful intense love story with lots of overlap with other themes: aging, race, American culture, women's issues, etc. Morrison is a wonder, again."
"A re-read. This time around I saw Jade for the self absorbed narcissist that she was. And how youth today are by nature narcissist because of the lack of responsibility and duty expected of them. Toni Morrison is excellent at having more than one clear theme throughout her novels. I thoroughly enjoyed the re-read!"
"I should preface this review by apologizing for the fact that this is the only one of Toni Morrison's novels that I have read, so I can claim no expertise in judging the overall quality or consistency of her body of work, only present my honest opinion of this one book. I think this is an extraordinary and moving work of fiction. Yet writing the word "fiction", I question whether or not this label is fair or accurate. Sure, Jadine, Ondine, Margaret, Son et al are not "real", but they are honestly drawn, realistically portrayed, and so they are, in a sense, true. At the very least, they are fully human, and not simply a set of archetypes parading around for our prurient amusement. Ondine and Gideon and Valerian and the rest made me feel uncomfortable at times, the rawness of their humanity laid bare before me, yet there was nothing gratuitous or forced about their vulnerability. Their exposure to my curious eye felt oddly natural, and required me to acknowledge the truth of their words/thoughts/feelings.
I concede that the ending is hard, even frustrating, as another reviewer pointed out. But does an artist such as Morrison owe us anything other than Truth and Art? I respectfully submit that the unspoken contract that implicitly exists between Author and Reader does not guarantee a neat and tidy ending. Why should we close the book expecting to feel "satisfied", as if we had just eaten a cozy meal? If you want to feel a neat sense of closure and not take one step out of your comfort zone, read Danielle Steele; if you want something more from your reading experience, take a risk and read Toni Morrison. I'm glad I did."
"the best novel ever written in my opinion! the significance of black female sexuality and the relevance of love in everything that we do and every decision we make."
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