SONG OF SOLOMON by TONI MORRISON (1977)

A few authors have become the gold standards for their genres of writing. High fantasy novels are advertised as "in the tradition of Tolkien." Books featuring magical realism are compared to those of Garcia Marquez. Authors of Southern Gothic novels aspire to be compared to Faulkner. Toni Morrison has joined that select group of touchstone writers. Her particular style of writing about the African American experience, including as she does elements that can either be considered as literally supernatural or as symbolic, has profoundly influenced subsequent writers. Two recent bestselling novels come to mind -- The Underground Railroad and Sing, Unburied, Sing.

The plot of Song of Solomon follows Macon (Milkman) Dead from birth through his young adulthood, growing up in Michigan. As he matures he feels himself increasingly alienated, emotionally separated from his family and the females he uses to satisfy his lust. He even betrays his eccentric aunt, who has made him feel more at home than anyone else, when he steals what he supposes to be a bag of gold from her. Still in search of the fabled gold, he follows his aunt's tracks back to the South, where the Dead family originated. As he uncovers the past and the secrets of his forebears, he achieves a measure of self realization and an understanding of his place in the world.

Woven into this coming-of-age story are magical elements, such as a woman who has no naval and a man who can fly. Also prominent are the various reactions to being black in a white America.

I am certain that this novel speaks more directly to black Americans who would have a better knowledge of the situations and attitudes. To this white American reader, it provides a better understanding of black culture. And it is a darn good book besides. It received the National Book Critics Circle Award and Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003.