Toni Morrison: a biography looks at the remarkable life of an essential American novelist, whose critically acclaimed, bestselling books offer lively, powerful depictions of black America. Toni Morrison serves as a basic introduction to the literary influences that shaped Morrison's writing, from the early novels to the breakout success of Song of Solomon, from the overwhelming achievement of Beloved: a novel to her most recent book, A Mercy. The book also examines Morrison's other writing--criticism, essays, edited volumes, and children's books--as well as her academic career, her work as an editor at Random House, and her political activism, most notably in the 2008 presidential campaign.