“It’s among Tayari’s many gifts that she can touch us soul to soul with her words.”
— OPRAH WINFREY

“Tayari Jones is blessed with vision to see through to the surprising and devastating truths at the heart of ordinary lives, strength to wrest those truths free, and a gift of language to lay it all out, compelling and clear. That has been true from her very first book, but with An American Marriage that vision, that strength and that truth-telling voice have found a new level of artistry and power.”
—MICHAEL CHABON, author of Moonglow: A Novel

“I love An American Marriage and I’m so excited for this book to be in the world. Tayari’s novel is timely, thoughtful, and beautifully written. Reading it, I found myself angry as hell, laughing out loud, choking up and cheering. A gem of a book.”
—JACQUELINE WOODSON, author of Brown Girl Dreaming

“Tayari Jones is a great storyteller. An American Marriage holds the reader from first page to last, with her compassionate observation, her clear-eyed insight and her beautifully written and complex characters. Jones understands love and loss and writes with passion and precision about the forces that move us all from one to another.”
—AMY BLOOM, bestselling author of Lucky Us

“An American Marriage asks hard questions about injustice and betrayal, and answers them with a heartbreaking and genuinely suspenseful love story in which nobody’s wrong and everybody’s wounded. Tayari Jones has written a complex and important novel about people trapped in a tragic situation, struggling to reconcile their responsibilities and desires.”
—TOM PERROTTA, author of The Leftovers

“Tayari Jones’ American Marriage is a stunning epic love story filled with breathtaking twists and turns, while bursting with realized and unrealized dreams. Skillfully crafted and beautifully written, American Marriage is an exquisite, timely, and powerful novel that feels both urgent and indispensable.”
—EDWIDGE DANTICAT, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory

  • The Norton Anthology

    Tomorrow, Thursday January 18, at 11am (EST), I will get to talk with M.H. Abrahms, the founding editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature. The conversation will be on the NPR radio show, “On Point” which is broadcast from Boston’s NPR station, WBUR. Click here to see if you can listen on your radio. But if you can’t, tune in for the web broadcast (live) or the podcast (listen in later!).
    Think about it.. haven’t you ever wondered how certain authors and writers get to be “classic”? Well, this time tomorrow, we will know for sure. (And of course, I’ll give my perspective.)
    If you plan to tune in while I work, I promise to keep it clean. (smile)

  • Ah, The Joy of UNDERRATION

    No, I didn’t say ADORATION, I said UNDERRATION. The creators of the blog, The Syntax Of Things, asked prominent literary bloggers to list writers for the 2005 list of under-rated writers. I am proud to have been nominated for this distinction by C.A.A. Frye of the blog, Tingle Alley. Check out the whole list. What a kick to be in such good company. Question: Which new books do you think deserve more attention?

  • Tayari’s THIRTY-FIVE

    I’ve got Stevie Wonder on my iPod. “Happy Birthday to ya! Haaaapppy Biiirrthday!” And of course, there’s red velvet cake. And vodka gimlets. And very good shoes. And very very very good friends. Thanks everyone for such a good year. Love, Tayari

  • Leaving Atlanta Goes Back To Press

    I’ve just gotten good news from my publisher, Warner Books. Leaving Atlanta is under-going a fifth printing in paperback!

  • T.J. in D.C.

    I am happy to let everybody know that I will be moving to D.C. next year for six months! January through June. I’ll be a writer in residence at George Washington University. It’s such a great school, such a great city, terrific department. Who could ask for anything more?

  • The Untelling wins a prize!

    Okay, for some of you this may sound familiar. But here’s the *official* announcement: The Untelling has been awarded the Lillian C. Smith Award for New Voices. I’m pretty excited about it. Lillian Smith was a writer with a conscience, which, I think, is the most important attribute of a writer. Past winners include Alice Walker, Maddison Smartt Bell, Ernest Gaines. The awards ceremony is October 15th in Athens, GA.

  • A New Bit of Info on the Child Murders Case

    That AJC reported recently that there are tapes which may link white supremacists groups to the Atlanta Child Murders. I actually remember these tapes being played on the news about fifteen years ago. It’s a trip to see how reading the names brings back memories. The missing child mentioned in this article is Lubie Geter. Just reading the name makes me remember. While in Atlanta this weekend I met two women who wanted to talk to me aboout growing up in ATL during this terrible time. Everytime I talk to people whose childhoods overlapped with my own I write their stories down in the book I carry with me in my heart.