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Possessing the Secret of Joy, Hardcover by Walker, Alice, Brand New, Free shi... - Picture 1 of 1
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Possessing the Secret of Joy, Hardcover by Walker, Alice, Brand New, Free shi...

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US $29.60
Approximately£21.89
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eBay item number:357280492712
Last updated on 20 Aug, 2025 16:37:33 BSTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition
New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. See the ...
ISBN
9780151731527

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
HarperCollins
ISBN-10
0151731527
ISBN-13
9780151731527
eBay Product ID (ePID)
58342

Product Key Features

Book Title
Possessing the Secret of Joy
Number of Pages
304 Pages
Language
English
Topic
African American / Contemporary Women, Contemporary Women, African American / General, General, Literary, African American / Urban
Publication Year
1992
Genre
Fiction
Author
Alice Walker
Format
Hardcover

Dimensions

Item Height
1.1 in
Item Weight
17.8 Oz
Item Length
9.2 in
Item Width
5.2 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
92-006883
Reviews
Pulitzer Prize winner Walker illustrates the truism that violence begets violence in this strong-voiced but often stridentan obvious novel? and polemical novel. The focus of Walker's rage is the practice of female circumcision in African cultures. Her tale concerns Tashi, a character who made fleeting appearances in The Color Purple and The Temple of My Familiar , and who here represents an archetypal figure, not so much a woman as a mouthpiece for feminist distress. Tashi grows up in a small African village but initially escapes the customary clitorodectomy. Eventually she is coerced into having the operation as a means of offering fealty to the sinister politician called Our Leader. When she moves to the U.S. with her husband and assumes a new identity as Evelyn Johnson, her pain and anger, accumulating the suffering of the ages, bubble to the surface in a lingering madness that therapy does not assuage and thatwhy not delete this next phrase (through 'finally') as point is made in previous sentence and 'accumulate' is repeated, and incorporate the point about "the ages" into the previous sentenc finally culminates in murder. Walker tells the story in very brief chapters, each loaded with the sense of the historical importance she wishes to convey, but the fragile narrative cannot support the weight of her overwrought prose. Walker's protest against ok? author's "message" in the last review "what men . . . do to us" cannot be faulted; its guise as a novel, however, can. , A peripheral character in The Color Purple ( LJ 6/1/82) and The Temple of My Familiar ( LJ 3/15/88), Tashi becomes the focus of this welcome new work. Tashi, who marries Celie's son Adam, submits to female circumcision partially out of loyalty to the threatened tribal customs of her people, the Olinka. As a result, she endures physical pain and long-lasting emotional trauma. Not a sympathetically drawn victim, the tortured Tashi stretches to bridge two continents and to understand why women must undergo this torture, even at the hands of their mothers, for the pleasure of men. Though she often succumbs to madness, Tashi eventually takes possession of the secret of joy. Her compelling story is every Eve's account of those "whose chastity belt was made of leather, or of silk and diamonds, or of fear and not of our own 'flesh.' " This is not a sequel to Walker's previous novels, but it easily equals, if not surpasses, their excellence. -Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia
Dewey Decimal
FIC
Synopsis
A provocative novel about an African tribal woman's battle with madness after the trauma of a childhood genital mutilation.
LC Classification Number
PS3573.A425P67 1992

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    AAA+++; Excellent Service; Great Pricing; Fast Delivery-Faster Than Expected to Hawaii using free shipping USPS Ground Mail, Received 06/18; Paperback book in Great Condition as Described ; TLC Packaging; Excellent Seller Communication, Sends updates . Highly Recommended!, Thank you very much!
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    Good price for the book. Shipping was slow. Messaged the seller a week after I ordered it to see when they were going to ship it. They responded immediately and said it would be shipped out soon. Got it about a week later. Book did arrive in the date range that they provided though  Minimal packaging. Book is Shrink wrapped and only wrapped in thin plastic. No bubble wrap. Book is in good shape though. 
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    The book I bought was reasonably priced and when it arrived it was in the 'Like New' condition specified in the listing. However, when I saw that the seller had not shipped the book after more than 15 days had passed since my order I felt I must write to say that I had actually placed an order with the seller and inquire when it planned to send the book. The brusque reply was that a tracking number was available, but no number HAD been created until I pointed out that I had placed the order.
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  • by apET_W5gQm-@Deleted
    07 Feb, 2019

    So happy was well packaged and in great shape

    Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-ownedSold by: kayleighbugbooks

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