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I read Beloved when I was in high school. I was so entranced in the world she created, that time passed without me noticing. Truly a visionary author.

Unrelated, but it's kind of scary how many comments have, if not an undertone, just straight up racism.

Beloved by Toni Morisson. Such beautiful prose.

I suggested Toni Morrison and held without a doubt that she was the greatest living writer until her passing last year. She'll likely always hold that top spot in my mind, no one can compare. Go read "Sula" or "Song of Solomon" or "Beloved" or "The Bluest Eye". Her work will make you a better human.

Beloved by Toni Morrison.

Lisp in Small Pieces by C. Queinnec

Well, _Beloved_ for instance was published in 1987, and Jazz, also mentioned in this thread, in 1992. Her first novel, _The Bluest Eye_, in 1970.

But yeah, I would say she has continued to increase in popularity (popularly and in school curriculums) since the 1980s, although some high schoolers were probably reading her works in the 80s. I graduated from high school in 1983, and read Beloved in a class.

Like several others in this thread, I read Beloved at an 11th grade student in literature class.

It was the most humbling thing I remember reading. Moving, despite no personal context for the characters' experiences. Written beautifully without feeling over written.

It made me realize how far I was, and probably would ever be, from proper writing talent.

We read her book Song of Solomon in my senior high school English class. It was one of my favorites of the class, along with Catch-22. I don't think I really got even close to 100% of what it was about, but her writing was just so gripping and beautiful, I still enjoyed the ride.

Years later I read Beloved and I was able to appreciate it much more. I should really read more of her work.

I had a similar experience growing up in the mostly white suburbs of Baltimore. We read Beloved junior year and it was absolutely devastating. It opened my eyes to the deep, unhealed wounds of slavery and that sort of tumultuous, all-consuming pain. It was a difficult book to read at that age—I can't imagine any age when it would be easy to read—and I appreciate that we were asked to sit with it.

Another book that had a similar effect on me was Yukio Mishima's "Confessions of a Mask" about a boy growing up gay in 1930–50s Japan. I don't know that he ever actually says he's gay and you get this feeling that he doesn't even have the language to describe himself, let alone any kind of framework or support network. It was described to me by the friend who recommended it as "devastatingly sad" and I agree. He was absolutely, completely, and utterly fucked from the moment he was born and there's nothing he could do about it. The book threw me off for weeks. I highly recommend it.

My first intro to Morrison was thru 'The Bluest Eye'. Afterwards I read many of her books incl 'Beloved'. I loved all of them.

One thing I could however never understand was how a person with such deep insights into the African American experience could call Bill Clinton, 'the first Black President'. I thought at first maybe there was something I didn't understand. But as years passed, I've been increasingly feeling that perhaps that wasn't the case.