bFrom a superstar academic and cultural critic, an exploration of Alice Walker's critically acclaimed and controversial novel iThe Color Purpleib p In 1982, Alice Walker made history when she became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for iThe Color Purplei. But Walker's novel, which tells the story of a young girl in Jazz Age Georgia, received as much criticism as praise. It launched heated conversations about race, gender, language, and sexual violence that echo to today. p In this gem-like examination of the novel, the film by Steven Spielberg, and the hit Broadway musical, prominent academic and activist Salamishah Tillet combines cultural criticism, history, and memoir to explore Walker's work and its lasting importance. Based on archival research and interviews with Walker, Oprah Winfrey, and Quincy Jones, among others, iIn Search of iiThe Color Purplei is a provocative and personal book, a bold debut from an important public intellectual.