Sunday book pick: Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s only short story ‘Recitatif’

Taking a slight detour from recommending books, today I am recommending the only short story that Toni Morrison ever published – “Recitatif”. The publisher Chatto and Windus published it as a book – Recitatif – with a sprawling introduction by novelist Zadie Smith.

A Nobel Laureate, a towering figure in the literary arts, a tireless activist for justice, reading Morrison is akin to feeling spiritually enlightened. Every time I read her work, I’m struck by the feeling that there is something miraculous about her greatness. And not strictly limited to the pages in front of me, but a clarity and resolve that reverberates in each of her works, every interview she has given, every speech she has made, and every life she has touched. There’s the halo of genius around her, yes, but she is truly alive – and always will be – for equipping her readers with the tools lets them see themselves for who they really are.

An experiment

In “Recitatif”, Morrison’s infuriatingly slippery story, refuses to yield itself – just like its creator. Instead, it melds, shifts and rattles the readers in a way that confirms and inflates their own biases and prejudices. Almost as though Morrison has given you a canvas with some shapes...

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