Morrison's editorial position at Random House enabled her to work on The Black Book, a project that would provide a wealth of material for her later writing and profoundly influence her approach to literature. Published in 1974, The Black Book is a collection of African-American memorabilia that spans three centuries of black history, from slavery to the 1940s. It contains newspaper clippings, bills of sale, sheet music, announcements of slave auctions, invitations to "rent parties," letters, graphic photographs, sports files, patents granted to African Americans, and other memorabilia gathered from the scrapbooks and attics of its editors and other supporters. Although her name does not appear on the book, Morrison conceived The Black Book as a tribute to "the anonymous black man." In explaining her desire to publish the book, Morrison says that she wanted to create a genuine black-history book that "simply recollected life as lived" and celebrated the common, collective achievements and experiences of black people.
The publication of Morrison's third novel, Song of Solomon (1977), which focuses on the quest for cultural identity, heralded the public's recognition of her as a serious author. The mythic folktale evolved from Morrison's grief over her father's death. Song of Solomon was awarded the 1978 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Eighteen years later, in 1996, it soared to the number one position on national bestseller lists when it was announced as a featured novel of Oprah Winfrey's book club.
In 1981, Morrison published her fourth novel, Tar Baby, an allegorical fable about colonialism, commitment, and black identity, based on white folklorist Joel Chandler Harris' "Uncle Remus" story. Morrison imposes her own interpretations on the original story, which, she recalls, frightened her as a child. Consequently, the tar baby in her novel — a beautiful, light-skinned model named Jadine — is "the black woman who can hold things together."
