The Color Purple by Alice Walker is my favourite book of all time so when I saw there was a book about how that story came into being I knew I had to read it. Reading Tillet's book gave me the context of the novel as I hoped but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I got much more than that. Tillet bares herself to us as readers sharing her own experience of sexual assault, an experience which helped her resonate so strongly with the character of Celie who herself is sexually assaulted as a young girl.

Her strong connection with Celie and its feminist author, Alice Walker, caused Tillet to start the journey of understanding how the story came to be the phenomenon it is today. Along the way she learns the novel was not initially well received by critics and that the black community was largely unhappy with the way in which black men were portrayed. Tillet also learns the complicated story of the novel's depiction on screen and on stage. Strangely Steven Spielberg the director of the film, chose to discard the screenplay Walker wrote in favour of one that seemed to shy away from confronting some of the more difficult issues raised in the book. Walker herself did not like the film and felt it missed the message she was trying to convey. Having had this experience, she was understandably wary when she was approached by another white man to take the story to the stage. Ultimately, she agreed to the proposal and was happier with the stage version than the one on screen. However, Walker's experience both with the film and stage versions of The Color Purple speaks to a larger question of who gets to tell which stories and why own voices representation is so important.

I thought Tillet did a good job of explaining why The Color of Purple is such an important book to her and the complicated story of its publication, its journey to the screen and its most recent incarnation on the stage. I learned things I didn't know about the original and appreciated Tillet's willingness to share details of her own life. This book is very much for fans of The Color Purple, those who haven't read the book or have no interest in reading it may find their minds wandering but for me it was an enlightening and enjoyable experience and has only further enshrined Walker's classic as one of my all time favourites.

In Search of the Color Purple, The Story of an American Masterpiece, Salamishah Tillet 5/5

An excellent exploration of Alice Walker's seminal novel. I read this on the instagram recommendation of Dr. Brittney Cooper, who is one of my intellectual/artistic guides, and who I trust to lead me towards good literature. My trust was well placed; I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

The way it's set up into sections that focus on "Sophia," "Shug," and "Celie," is clever, and the weaving of an analysis of the book, and how important it is, with the real life stories and influences, is breathtaking. Salamishah Tillet is a wonderful writer whose personal experiences and clear love of the novel itself infuse her careful dedication to fleshing out its origins and its influence. I am only giving this book 4/5 stars because I felt the "afterword" was an unnecessary addition that took away from the slam-dunk ending it would have had without an epistolary, academic droning bookending it.

What is particularly compelling here is how Tillet contextualizes "The Color Purple" itself -- a book that was ahead of tis time and is, still, in the world of "Me Too," ahead of its time. She illustrates clearly how Walker's novel had a purpose 'then,' and how it has a beautiful message/purpose 'now,' in an entirely different way, while still telling the same important, inspiring story.

I should note that I read "The Color Purple" when I was in 6th grade - about 12/13 years old. I liked the book, but in reading Tillet's reflections here, it becomes (even more) obvious that at that age, I had no business reading it. Sure, I understood it - in the most straightforward of ways, in that I understood the beginning, middle, and end. But given that it was more "salacious" than anything I'd been allowed to ready, I really remember viewing it more as a triumph of my own intelligence: something I was getting away with my sneaking it under my mother's nose, and a book that had some sex scenes I wasn't familiar with. I'm glad my middle school library had this book - but reflecting on it now, it's a clear situation that exhibits why, regardless of how cool I thought I was, and how "advanced" my reading level was from a technical point, certain books need attention and maturity that just is not there in the mind of a fairly privileged little white girl in suburban Tennessee.

I look forward to adding "The Color Purple" to my 2021 re-reading project, and I really look forward to experiencing it with a broader mind, and more intellect, so that I can more fully appreciate the iconic and necessary piece of art that it is.

Salamishah Tillet's forthcoming book tells the story of The Color Purple by Alice Walker: the novel, the film, and the musical adaptation. It covers the origins of the novel, Alice Walker's family members that inspired the characters, and the novel's reception in the literary world and Black culture. Tillet's book is part history of the novel and its legacy, part biography of Walker, and part memoir of Tillet's personal connection to the book. It is split into three parts, each part is named after a major character in the novel (Part 1: Celie, 2: Shug, 3: Sofia). Part 1 covers the novel, Part 2 covers the film adaptation, and Part 3 covers the musical adaptation and the novel's lasting legacy. I enjoyed learning more about Walker's familial foundations of the novel, how the film came to fruition including the search for cast members, and finally its lasting impact on women and especially sexual assault survivors. The strengths of this book is that Tillet was able to interview Alice Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Quincy Jones, and others, and not having to depend solely on archival sources. Ultimately this book is a love letter to The Color Purple, fans of the book or movie will thoroughly enjoy reading it, I sure did. 

Thanks to NetGalley, Abrams Press, and Salamishah Tillet for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on January 12, 2021.

This was an interesting read deconstructing the experience of Alice Walker and Salamishah Tillet with the Color Purple. It talks characterisation, pop culture revolution and how the Color Purple shaped public perception - including the controversies I hadn't realised due to it already being hailed a modern classic by the time I had heard of it and read it.

Loved this - a great look at the creation of The Color Purple, its translation to the screen and then to the stage, and its lingering legacy (and controversy). Tillet interviewed Walker, Oprah, Mickalene Thomas, Gloria Steinem, the producer of the Broadway show and so many others for a layered and thoughtful exploration of this novel. My only real gripe was I wish it was longer! Every section could have had more in it and I would have devoured it. so great.