Song of Solomon cover art

Song of Solomon

A Novel

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Song of Solomon

By: Toni Morrison
Narrated by: Toni Morrison
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About this listen

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An official Oprah Winfrey’s “The Books That Help Me Through” selection • The acclaimed Nobel Prize winner transfigures the coming-of-age story with this brilliantly imagined novel. Includes a new foreword by the author.

Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. As Morrison follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, she introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized Black world.

“Morrison moves easily in and out of the lives and thoughts of her characters, luxuriating in the diversity of circumstances and personality, and revelling in the sound of their voices and of her own, which echoes and elaborates theirs.” —The New Yorker

©2004 Toni Morrison (P)2009 Random House African American Coming of Age Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literary History & Criticism Romance

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Critic reviews

“A rich, full novel. . . . It lifts us up [and] impresses itself upon us like a love affair.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Stunningly beautiful. . . . Full of magnificent people. . . . They are still haunting my house. I suspect they will be with me forever.” —Anne Tyler, The Washington Post

“If Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man went underground, Toni Morrison’s Milkman flies.” —John Leonard, The New York Times Book Review
All stars
Most relevant  
Morrison's voice is like melted butter. I felt at home when she was speaking. Story an important tale of race in America.

Amazing narration.

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Powerful, timeless coming of age story with universal themes of identity and trust arising from a story about the confusion and contradictions of the sharp divide in the experience of being black in America.
Beautiful prose set before the civil rights movement allows an emotional resonance and relevance. Superb storytelling masks a complex and layered plot accessible on many levels. Additional context may be apparent to those familiar with the bible.

Powerful, timeless coming of age story

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I absolutely adored the story. Beautifully read as well, but due to the complexity of the names and the way in which the story is told, it can be hard to follow.
I would recommend listening to this, but reading along with it.
Anyone can read it, and I would strongly advise people to read this book, especially with racial issues still being a relevant issue in today's society

Excellent but difficult to follow

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Naration by the author is good but the audio has some gaps and these are filled in by text to speech voice which spoils it a bit. I was also disappointed the book was so short.

Great listen

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The Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison
A tale of identity, family, and the enduring impact of oppression on one’s journey — and how only love makes that burden bearable. It’s a story only a few will truly understand.

What a beautiful find on a quiet Sunday morning — and it’s absolutely made my day.
I genuinely can’t remember the last time I finished a book in one sitting. Thank you, Toni.

“If I had known more... I would have lovedmore.”
That one line holds the weight of the entire novel for me

if I had known more I would have loved more....

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If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I like the book, I would have liked it a lot more if it was unabridged - I didn't realize that it wasn't..

What did you like best about this story?

All the parts that Morrison read

What about Toni Morrison’s performance did you like?

All of the parts that Morrison performs is perfect but there are odd sections completely omitted and dubbed over with a monotonous male voice.. why?

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Sadness, anger, happiness.

Any additional comments?

Why is the story not complete? The whole section where Milkman meets Sweet is missing and so are other sections.. in place of those parts was an odd dubbed over male voice that completely ruined the audio for me.. and I'm disappointed. I wouldn't have bothered if I knew parts were going to be omitted.. I don't understand why that was done :(

Missing sections and strange dubs

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The abridged nature of this really affects it . A weird voice pops up to summarise missing parts in between the beautiful poetry of Toni’s voice and prose . I couldn’t believe it was finished as so many jumps in this version of the story . Shame as so much potential . I didn’t realise it was abridged and it’s clompily done . My star rating are due to this not the actual writing or story .

Please note this is abridged !

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I was so confused listening to this book. It’s abridged and the chapters are wrong compared to the real book. Also there are random moments when the narrator switches from Toni Morrison to some random, computer sounding, man’s voice for like 1-2 sentences. What the heck? Very disconcerting to listen to. I hadn’t read the real book so I didn’t understand what was happening with the abridging. Nowhere on the book description does it specify anything about this. This recording should not be allowed to be sold this way. Seems like an accidental, incomplete production and makes this classic story confusing. Not happy. That being said, Toni Morrison, of course, narrates beautifully, and the book itself is great. Would recommend more generally, but not this version.

Great book but wrongly described and poorly made

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This download is 2 hours 57 mins. The book is considerably longer. The audio is badly edited and has a robotic voice that cuts over Toni Morrison with text that isn't in the book. A reader below says it is only the first 4 chapters. I didn't get that far as it was pointless trying to enjoy this book through this audio.

Don't waste a credit on this - unacceptable audio

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The book is abridged but it dosent make that clear. A bit disappointed.. Not in the book itself, but audible's omissions.

Wrongly described.

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