Sassafrass Cypress and Indigo

by Ntozake Shange

Book Overview

Ntozake Shange's beloved Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is the story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston, South Carolina. Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312699727
• ISBN13: 9780312699727
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Simply, one of my favorite books in the world

This is more than a book to me, Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo opened doors in thought and creativity in me that I wasn't aware existed. These three taught me things of my culture, (after all, I am a Geechee), men, family and love. This book is your Mama's cooking, Christmas morning, sprituality outside your door, and the man you've been looking for, all in one place. I have cried with this book, written poetry with this book, loved with this book. I know that I should probably go into the storyline, the characters, and all that, but the only thing I really want to say is, BUY THIS BOOK! Read it and be prepared to love it.

Lyrical form

One of the best books I have ever read. From the first page I was drawn into this world completely and never looked back. One of those rare books that I was devastated to have end, and moped around for months afterward with nothing to read because I knew nothing would be able to equal it. Miz Shange's lyrical prose is incomparable, beautiful and devastating in it's ability to make an intimate connection with the reader. I consider it a 'Must' read. If you ever have a chance to see Ntozake Shange read in person, which I have, don't miss the opportunity. She is as rare and wonderful as her writing.

a read I long remember

this book left a lasting impression on me, and as I was just reminded of it, I wanted to excite other people's interest in a joyous read. after and while reading about the lovely 3 sisters, my daughter and I invented 3 puppets and called them by the sister's names. Perhaps I remember and recommend this book because it is one you can enjoy with an adolescent.

My Favorite Christmas Book!

A gift from Mama, one from their dead Father, and one from Santa, each found through a kind of scavenger hunt by clues left for each child under the Christmas tree, and each savored by the individual Child privately, free of "rivalries, jokes, and Christmas confusions."What a marvellous, inventive Christmas tradition. If I had family, I would initiate this idea. The Christmas chapter is my favorite in this whole book. I also enjoy the recipes scattered throughout the book! I've tried a few and they're great!I'm not going to analyze this book and try to guess at what the author was trying to do. Seems to me only the author could do that, anyway. All I can do is review this book based on what I got out of it. Besides a new Christmas ritual and some great recipes, what I got out of it was, a beautiful story about a mother and her three daughters, each with their own unique gifts: Sassafrass the weaver, Cypress the dancer, and Indigo the voodoo priestess/midwife. Their mother, Hilda Effania, wants the best for her girls, but she knows they each have to make their own way in the world; and when at the end of the story her three grown girls are reunited in the celebration of the newest member of the family, she lets them know that no matter what, they can always come home. I think this is a beautiful message, and I'm surprised this book hasn't become a movie by now. Not that being on video would improve the story, far be it; in fact, most movies based on books are so intent on sensationalism that it ends up being nothing like the book (think Waiting to Exhale). It's just that, if done right, it could become the type of touchy-feely message film that Touchstone films or even Hallmark should have jumped on long ago.This is my favorite book, and I don't own/enjoy a lot of fiction. I've had this book about ten years now, my book has a better cover, and I enjoy pulling it down every Christmas just to read the Christmas day story again and again. I'm seeing some references to this book as reading for grade schoolers. I think that may be a mistake. I wouldn't recommend this book for a young (prepubescent) child; the drug scenes and the passages involving sexuality are a little intense, I think, even though today's children are a lot more worldly about such things thanks to cable!

This will change your outlook on life.

This book is not an action-packed thriller or nail-bitingly exciting/ it is not meant to be. Shange's unique way with words paints previously un-painted pictures. A work of beauty and love from beginning to end, Shange covers each girls mode of self-expression, and by the end of the book you feel a special bond with and understanding of each character in the book. At times it may seem overdone, and it may very well be sometimes (I'm still not sure), and at times it may move a little slow, but my soul would tell me to give Shange the benefit of the doubt and take the message instead of the medium (which is, as I have said, in its own right fabulous.) I would recommend this book to any patient person looking for a soul-searching endeavor that will leave you feeling more whole as a person and wanting more. Bravo Ntozake!!!