Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship

"Years before becoming a household name as a novelist, Toni Morrison was an editor at Random House. Those years are the subject of Dana A. Williams’ Toni at Random. Morrison’s goal was to document the Black experience. But to get there, we learn just how deft a businesswoman Morrison was: She knew how to speak to bottom-line-obsessed corporate publishers and reclusive writers in equal measure. The book is full of tension – fights with writers over prose and with fellow editors for respect – but it always comes back to the craft, and the care Morrison took to getting it right on the page. Her brilliance was always evident – it’s just nice to have a fuller picture of it."