i just started it. it’s a hard read i find. she writes very well, but passages sometimes require a second reading to comprehend what’s going on.
it’s from 1977. it seems “race” comes up quite often, white people are painted with a very broad brush.
has the novel been discussed here? what do you think about it?
it’s an interesting read for me, but i wouldn’t says it’s a page turner that is engrossing and i can’t put it down.
but it’s engaging in that it is so unpredictable.
what do you think?

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Posted by Philzilla2k

Member since Oct 2017

13121 posts

Posted on 5/25/26 at 2:47 pm to selfgen

I read it after a friend of mine told me the band The Dead Milkmen were named after the character.

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Posted by BordyLSU

Austin Texas Baby

Member since Dec 2006

1588 posts

Posted on 5/25/26 at 6:45 pm to selfgen

I had to read it for English, my last year at LSU. I just remember the character was nicknamed “milk man” because his mom was nursing him still at a very late age & I remember misinterpreting the ending badly. The class was discussing it and I thought I had read the wrong book I was so far off from what supposedly happened to milkman.

I guess that confirms what you said above.

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Posted by Htowntiger90

Houston

Member since Dec 2018

1016 posts

Posted on 5/26/26 at 10:56 am to selfgen

I read it years ago, and recall being thrown off by the ending. It's one of those I should reread at some point. I seem to recall it had long chapters for a short book.

Toni Morrison worked race into lots of her writing. You can probably Google her political views pretty readily. Great writer, but she's one who thought America was going back to Jim Crow after 2016 - you can probably find the old New Yorker essay on line.

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