Toni at Random - by Dana A Williams (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NPR SPRING PICK

An insightful exploration that unveils the lesser-known dimensions of this legendary writer and her legacy, revealing the cultural icon's profound impact as a visionary editor who helped define an important period in American publishing and literature.

A multifaceted genius, Toni Morrison transcended her role as an author, helping to shape an important period in American publishing and literature as an editor at one of the nation's most prestigious publishing houses. While Toni Morrison's literary achievements are widely celebrated, her editorial work is little known. Drawing on extensive research and firsthand accounts, this comprehensive study discusses Morrison's remarkable journey from her early days at Random House to her emergence as one of its most important editors. During her tenure in editorial, Morrison refashioned the literary landscape, working with important authors, including Toni Cade Bambara, Leon Forrest, and Lucille Clifton, and empowering cultural icons such as Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali to tell their stories on their own terms.

Toni Morrison herself had great enthusiasm about Dana Williams's work on this story, generously sharing memories and thoughts with the author over the years, even giving her the book's title. From the manuscripts she molded, the authors she nurtured, and the readers she inspired, Toni at Random demonstrates how Toni Morrison has influenced American culture beyond the individual titles or authors she published. Morrison's contribution as an editor transformed the broader literary landscape and deepened the cultural conversation. With unparalleled insight and sensitivity, Toni at Random charts this editorial odyssey.

Review Quotes

"Toni Morrison is best known as one of the world's most significant novelists, but in this meticulously researched work Dana Williams introduces us to Morrison the literary editor, who shaped American publishing by introducing a generation of new voices and topics to the reading public. Through Williams we come to see Morrison's editorial work, along with her fiction, as part of a larger visionary project that was nothing short of transformative. Toni at Random is a major accomplishment." - Farah Jasmine Griffin, William B. Ransford Professor of English & Comparative Literature and African American and African Diaspora Studies. Author of Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature (W.W. Norton Press, Fall 2021)
"The more we learn about Toni Morrison, the more in awe we are of her gifts and her incredible range as a writer, intellectual and now we meet her as a literary activist and editor. Dana A. Williams rises to the challenge of documenting the workings of a genius, by demonstrating a mighty brilliance of her own. We have in our hands a masterpiece-- a scholarly page turner, dwelling at the intersection of meticulous research, abiding passion, and tremendous respect." - Tayari Jones, author of American Marriage.
"In this essential work, Williams not only reveals the genius of Morrison as editor of some of the nation's most iconic writers, she provides an insider's view of mainstream publishing during a golden age of Black authors and literature. Toni at Random is a cultural treasure." - Paula J. Giddings, E.A.Woodson Professor emerita of Smith College and the author of IDA, A Sword Among Lions, Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching
"I flew through these pages. With a dazzling array of characters who become household authorial names and an editor who was as perceptive as she was assertive, 'Toni at Random' is an outstanding exaltation to the legend of the woman herself who birthed so many generations of Black artists alongside and after her." - Morgan Jerkins, author of Zeal and This Will Be My Undoing
"Toni at Random stands as a towering accomplishment for Dana Williams. Readers, historians, and students of literature are now in Williams' debt... Toni Morrison was responsible for much of what we read as we matured, as our literature became mainstream. By offering Morrison's editorial history to stand beside her literary production, Dana Williams has proven, again, that Toni Morrison is and was indomitable. In Toni at Random, Dana Williams brings receipts." - A.J. Verdelle, Author of Miss Chloe: A Memoir of a Literary Friendship with Toni Morrison
"This book can be seen as a handbook for editing during a rapidly changing cultural period, how to patiently, diplomatically, or even bluntly help a creative spirit discover his/her true vision in a work. It certainly and effectively presents another dimension to Morrison's stature as an ever-important contributor to African American and therefore American culture." - John McCluskey, Jr. Professor Emeritus Dept. of African American and African Diaspora Studies
A well-researched biographical study. - Kirkus Reviews
A triumphant account of an underexplored aspect of Morrison's influence on American literature. - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An insightful dive into the life, legacy and cultural literary contributions of one of the most prolific voices of the 20th century."
- Ebony
"Drawing primarily from the author's correspondence, Williams recounts in remarkable detail how Morrison, the first Black woman senior editor at Random House, forever transformed the publishing landscape by championing Black writers' work and discovering new voices. This book gives a comprehensive account of Morrison's work with Huey P. Newton, Boris Bittker, Muhammad Ali, Angela Davis, and more."
- Vulture
"Toni at Random is a deeply reported, insightful, and page-turning account of Morrison's ground-breaking editorial work. Williams does an excellent job chronicling Morrison's transformative impact not only on the individual authors she edited and championed, but also on the wider landscape of publishing."
- Literary Hub
"Deeply researched and illuminating" - The Atlantic
"Written with great knowledge, deep feeling and a sense of purpose."
- Chicago Tribune
"A well-told and successful story of Morrison's editorship; exceedingly honest -- prices of book advances, media squabbles and creative arguments in tow -- and often illuminating. Williams is clearly a skilled biographer, and respect for Morrison is given time and space to grow in this far-reaching and informative work."
- Spectrum Culture
"Morrison's gift to Black letters lives on in this book."
- The Nation
Toni Morrison passed away six years ago, yet she remains a vital cultural force, her writing as fresh and incisive today as ever, perhaps even more so given our troubling times. In Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship, Dana A. Williams investigates an underexamined aspect of Morrison's literary career: her nearly 20-year tenure as an editor at Random House. Drawing on archival documents, Williams reconstructs Morrison's audacious efforts to carve a space for herself in the publishing world while cultivating a new generation of Black writers. Morrison navigated this role as nimbly as she produced memorable fiction; Williams surfaces correspondence between Morrison and writers like Toni Cade Bambara and Barbara Chase-Riboud in which she gently prods and firmly persuades. Williams's book is a quiet revelation, a searching portrait of an artist who elevated editing to an art form. - Tope Folarin, Vulture
I tore through Toni at Random, by Dana A. Williams, a study of Morrison's years as an editor at Random House, the night it was released. - Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, New York Magazine