Paradise Audiobook By Toni Morrison cover art

Paradise

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Paradise

By: Toni Morrison
Narrated by: Toni Morrison
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.25

Buy for $20.25

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

"Rumors had been whispered for more than a year. Outrages that had been accumulating all along took shape as evidence. A mother was knocked down the stairs by her cold-eyed daughter. Four damaged infants were born in one family. Daughters refused to get out of bed. Brides disappeared on their honeymoons. Two brothers shot each other on New Year's Day. Trips to Demby for VD shots common. And what went on at the Oven these days was not to be believed.... The proof they had been collecting since the terrible discovery in the spring could not be denied: the one thing that connected all these catastrophes was in the Convent. And in the Convent were those women."

In Paradise - her first novel since she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature - Toni Morrison gives us a bravura performance. As the book begins deep in Oklahoma early one morning in 1976, nine men from Ruby (pop. 360), in defense of "the one all-black town worth the pain", assault the nearby Convent and the women in it. From the town's ancestral origins in 1890 to the fateful day of the assault, Paradise tells the story of a people ever mindful of the relationship between their spectacular history and a void "Out There...where random and organized evil erupted when and where it chose". Richly imagined and elegantly composed, Paradise weaves a powerful mystery.

©2017 Toni Morrison (P)2017 Random House Audio
African American Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

Critic reviews

"Morrison has brought it all together: the poetry, the emotion, the broad symbolic plan." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"Stunning.... Morrison at her novelistic best." ( The New Yorker)

Featured Article: 65+ Quotes About Love from Much-Loved Authors


While saying "I love you" speaks volumes, there are times when you yearn to express your feelings for a loved one—whether a cherished friend, serious crush, or your soul mate—in a way that's more creative, more eloquent, more memorable...in a word: quotable. For those times, there's no better source to turn to than great authors. We've collected some of most tender, most romantic, and most passionate quotes from the world's most-loved authors.

Powerful Storytelling • Complex Ideas • Beautiful Narration • Literary Depth • Profound Writing • Precise Enunciation
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
The book hits different as you age, I read this as a teenager and again at 40, a blessing.

Ms Toni

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It’s Toni Morrison. I never want it to end. She is brilliant in every way. May she Rest In Peace and light.

It’s Toni. Nothing else you can say. So good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A work of genius. Complexly spun. Great women characters of depth. A great read. Splendid.

Outstanding.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I love listening to Ms. Morrison, it's like listening to stories from my Nana. So grateful!

Listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book is for those who enjoy high brow fiction. The easily achieved pleasures of Beloved do not exist here. Morrison relies heavily upon the reader's knack for allusion and close-reading. Morrison does not provide simple entry ways into complex ideas, as she did before winning the prize. She had more to prove then, which often came at the expense of implication and carefully trimmed prose. Instead, she now walks in the full AUTHORITY of reputation and allows the assumptions of her genius--that the prize affords--to force the reader to do the work to find what is most certainly there and carefully stitched in the structure and prosody of Paradise: GENIUS. This book is an absolute MUST for literary folk. English majors do yourself a favor: BUY THIS BOOK!!!

MORRISON AT HER MOST COMPLEX

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Some books are better listened to and others not. There were too many characters to follow while listening. I was more often than not confused with the story and it’s people.

Maybe more important than the story, is Toni Morrison’s writing. It reads like poetry with a rhythm and beautiful descriptions. No matter how confusing it was to read, the writing kept me engaged and invested.

Paradise, really!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

words are such a powerful thing and this story is powerful!!! I love it 💕

The power of paradise

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

And haunting. A must read for everyone interested in the works of a literary genius.

Beautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I loved this story. Heartbreaking and beautiful narration. Toni Morrison is an artist. I highly recommend for any listener.

Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It was very enjoyable but confusing to listen to. Recommend getting the book so that you could follow along and or get a character guide

Complex Story Requiring Close Reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews