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The Bluest Eye
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Bluest Eye Prebound - 2007

by Toni Morrison


About this book

The Bluest Eye is a 1970 novel by American author Toni Morrison. It is Morrison's first novel, written while Morrison was teaching at Howard University and was raising her two sons on her own. The story is about a year in the life of a young black girl in Lorain, Ohio named Pecola Breedlove. It takes place against the backdrop of America's Midwest as well as in the years following the Great Depression. 

Brutal in its depictions of racism, incest, and child molestation, The Bluest Eye has remained on the often-challenged and banned books list almost every year since its publication.

From the publisher

Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in.Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison's virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing.

First Edition Identification

Quite scarce! Morrison's first novel was published by Holt Rinehart Winston in New York, 1970. The first edition is stated on the copyright page, and the jacket is priced at $5.95.

Details

  • Title The Bluest Eye
  • Author Toni Morrison
  • Binding Prebound
  • Pages 205
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Perfection Learning
  • Date 2007
  • ISBN 9781606866801 / 160686680X
  • Weight 0.65 lbs (0.29 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 in (19.56 x 12.70 x 2.03 cm)
  • Reading level 920
  • Library of Congress subjects Bildungsromans, African Americans
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2007276261
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC