Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

"Words have power," says the late Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison (1931-2019) in filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s PBS-aired and theatrically-released American Masters documentary. Beginning with her first novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), Morrison consciously chose not to write for what she here calls the "white gaze," instead depicting black life unapologetically and without added explanation for white readers. Born in a multi-ethnic area in Lorain, OH, Morrison would enjoy a diverse career in which books were always at the center (she was an academic teacher, an editor at Random House, and an award-winning author), even as she struggled as a single mother raising two sons. A who’s who of celebrities and literati are on hand here to sing Morrison’s deserved praise, including Angela Davis, Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Sanchez, Walter Mosley, Fran Lebowitz, Russell Banks, Morrison’s longtime editor Robert Gottlieb, and critics such as Hilton Als. The discussion of Morrison’s life and work focuses on her earlier career and novels, primarily The Bluest Eye, Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), and Beloved (1987). No mention is made of the death of one of her sons, and—aside from brief remarks about Paradise (1997)—none of her later books are covered. But the conversational jewel in the crown of this engaging and entertaining documentary is Morrison herself, who appears in lengthy contemporary interviews and makes insightful comments on her work while also telling wonderfully charming stories about her childhood, writing habits, life in academia, and the Nobel Prize experience (Morrison laughingly recalls that she was skeptical when the call came from Sweden; she asked if they could send her a fax confirmation). A warm and wonderful portrait of a great American writer, this is highly recommended. (R. Pitman)