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.
Tar Baby  By  cover art

Tar Baby

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

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

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

Publisher's summary

A ravishingly beautiful and emotionally incendiary reinvention of the love story by the legendary Nobel Prize winner

Jadine Childs is a Black fashion model with a white patron, a white boyfriend, and a coat made out of ninety perfect sealskins. Son is a Black fugitive who embodies everything she loathes and desires. As Morrison follows their affair, which plays out from the Caribbean to Manhattan and the deep South, she charts all the nuances of obligation and betrayal between Blacks and whites, masters and servants, and men and women.

©1982 Toni Morrison (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

1993, Nobel Prize, Winner

“Deeply perceptive. . . . Return[s] risk and mischief to the contemporary American novel.” (John Irving, The New York Times Book Review)

“Arresting images, fierce intelligence, poetic language . . . One becomes entranced by Toni Morrison’s story.” (The Washington Post)

Featured Article: Classic Literature from Black Writers, Performed by Black Narrators


Despite the many great works of literature by great Black writers, Black voices have had a hard time entering "the canon." Worse, there have been times when Black words were miscast and read by narrators who didn't connect with the spirit of the authors. To help rectify this, we offer our careful selection of classics by Black authors performed by gifted Black actors that truly deserve to be recognized, celebrated, and savored.

What listeners say about Tar Baby

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    185
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    31
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    161
  • 4 Stars
    47
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    161
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • BL
  • 12-10-11

So good that I'm writing my first Audible review!

I've enjoyed Morrison's *Beloved* and *The Bluest Eye* for years, but hadn't heard of *Tar Baby* until recently. Now that I've listened to *Tar Baby*, though, it's quickly replaced *The Bluest Eye* as my favorite Morrison text!

*Tar Baby* is a rich, complex love story that explores many questions, particularly those of race solidarity, heritage, and trauma. Valerian Street, a rich white retiree, lives on a tiny island in the Caribbean with his troubled younger wife, Margaret, as well as two faithful old servants, Sydney and Ondine—both black. Sydney and Ondine have long acted as guardians for their orphaned mixed-race niece, Jadine Childs, now 25 years old, a college graduate, and a successful international fashion model.

The household is thrown into chaos when Margaret discovers a strange black man hiding in her closet. This man, known as “Son,” has been squatting in the house for several days, yet Valerian inexplicably invites him to stay at the house as an honored guest. Jadine, though initially repulsed by the filthy, scruffy intruder, soon begins a clandestine sexual relationship with him. The ensuing romance drives most of the remainder of the novel and forms the backdrop for Morrison's provocative questions regarding race, gender, love, and power.

Desiree Coleman's narration of this book is excellent. I am moderately hearing-impaired, yet had very little trouble understanding her. The ways in which she dramatizes various characters' voices are consistent and appropriate--neither boringly bland nor over-the-top. Her narration was smooth and distraction-free, allowing me to get lost in Morrison's story instead of Coleman's reading.

In short, highly recommended!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved

Not sure why I hadn't read this sooner. A masterpiece! I see why it won the Nobel Prize. The language is so richly woven together.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just as good as I was expecting :)

I usually don't like fiction on Audio, but this was on one of those buy one get one sale's and I'm a sucker for a sale so I got this book knowing that I couldn't go wrong with Toni Morrison and I was correct. I still would have preferred to just read it myself because with fiction it's like letting someone else paint the mental pictures of the books world and I prefer to do that myself, but the performance was great and the story and writing is just so lovely and compelling.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Creepy

Creepy and unbelievable. You don't fall for an intruder who has been hiding in your house for a week and has secretely watched you sleep every night. You are scared of him. And you walk him out at least. Regardless of race.
Seriously?

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great

Loved it and the narrator was very good at the story telling it made me feel like I was part of the story.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great !!

I loved every minute of this book .The narrator was very good at making you like you were right in the story but let's face it Toni Morrison is a phenomenal writer.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

so much individual truth

wow! I loved it all . the struggle, the love, the anger, the fear! it spoke to all types of people. and WE ALL share similar experiences just looking through different lenses! my 1st Toni Morrison novel but definitely not my last.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Didn't like the characters

First let me say that Toni Morrison writes beautifully! Her poetic language, use of repeition to add to the melody of the story, and overall descriptions were vivid and sensuous.

However, I found this plot to be distressing. I didn't like the character of Son (Sun?). His situation seemed far-fetched. I don't want to provide any spoilers, but the other main character also seemed to lack some good, common sense. Maybe that wasn't the point, but I cannot recommend this story although I love other Toni Morrison stories.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

4.5 stars

Beautiful narration, engaging story. Rich, sensuous, complex and complicated characters. So much is packed in a relatively few pages.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I don’t get it

I might be reading this book too far from the writing date, but I don’t understand. There are too many implied ideas here. I think the abusive relationship is yucky. I think having sex with an intruder is beyond crazy. I don’t get it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!