Product Description

In 1982, one year after graduating from Brooklyn College, Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) made her debut on the literary scene with The Women of Brewster Place. The novel was critically acclaimed, filmed as a made-for-television movie, and turned into a television mini-series. Naylor's output now includes five novels, an edited collection of short stories, two theater projects, and a series of articles, essays, notes, and an unpublished work that combines fiction and nonfiction.

Conversations with Gloria Naylor collects her interviews and shows her to be one of the most talented novelists to emerge in the past twenty years. The twenty-four that are included range from 1983, soon after the publication of her first novel, to 2000, following the publication of The Men of Brewster Place. Altogether they shed light on Naylor in all her wit, wisdom, and candor. She is the first among the current generation of African American women novelists to have made a study of her literary predecessors. Interviews with her are compelling in their revelation of the evolutionary journey of a self-professed introvert and dreamer who is as indebted to the English classics as she is to blues, jazz, or Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.

An indispensable resource for a study of Naylor's life and art, Conversations with Gloria Naylor offers rare insight into works that are in the vanguard of contemporary American literature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1846091 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Booklist
Naylor's debut, the critically acclaimed The Women of Brewster Place (1982), was the first in a quartet of novels built on a fictional universe of intertwined stories and characters. But at the time of its publication, Naylor did not see herself as a writer, having only recently graduated from Brooklyn College, recovered from a failed marriage, and failed as a minister with the Jehovah's Witnesses. By the time Mama Day was published in 1988, Naylor felt she had gotten her bearings as a writer. In this collection of 24 interviews, arranged chronologically from the publication of The Women of Brewster Place to the publication of The Men of Brewster Place (2000), Naylor discusses her decidedly feminist and nationalist perspectives, and her impressions of magical realism, as well as her writing methods (letting her characters speak through her, waiting for their stories to unfold). The interviews include a dialogue with Toni Morrison, whose novel The Bluest Eye inspired Naylor to write, and a dialogue with Pearl Cleage. Naylor fans will love this book. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Maxine Lavon Montgomery is an associate professor of English at Florida State University and the author of Apocalypse in African-American Fiction.

Customer Reviews

Naylorism
"No, my work is not about giving answers...But my work is just the highlight, and I pray to God that it brings to life just a tiny little bit of the reality that I see through my vision." - Conversations with Gloria Naylor, pp. 69

I chose to begin this review on CONVERSATIONS WITH GLORIA NAYLOR with a quote by the esteemed author for many reasons. However, I mainly begin here because this collection of interviews is about her: her stories, her life, her decisions, her thoughts, and her characters, so it's only fitting to begin a book about her with a quote by her. While there are many quotes by Naylor in this book that I could have used, I like this one to start because it shows readers where her focus is. So many contemporary African-American novels try to show us the "how to" in life, offering readers many authors' "Black-shaped" cookie cutter answers to all that life throws us. Naylor is among the few who differ. Instead of answers, she gives us situations, tastes of what she sees and the realities of characters who use her as a medium to reach the world.

CONVERSATIONS WITH GLORIA NAYLOR is a collection of personal and professional interviews about everything from her characters' realities to her own life situations. Readers learn about why Naylor became a Jehovah's Witness, what got her started writing, what compelled her to finish each novel, and what connected the novels. We also learn about her family situation growing up, the jobs she's held, who she esteems, and how she views herself and the world in which she lives.

Ever since I studied Mama Day at university, I've been a big fan of Gloria Naylor. Reading this collection has simultaneously fulfilled and augmented my desire to know more about her. While quite a few of the interviews seemed to be repetitive in information, Naylor offers a little something different in each piece. Her witty answers punctuate through the most mundane questions, and her social awareness stamps everything she does. Her conversation with Toni Morrison really reflects both women's love of writing and love for the African-American culture. We are truly blessed to have such a writer as Gloria Naylor in our midst. (RAW Rating: 4.5)

Reviewed by Natasha T.
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers