In this wide-ranging collection of thought-provoking interviews-including her first and last-Toni Morrison (whom President Barack Obama called a "national treasure") details not only her writing life, but also her other careers as a teacher and as a publisher, as well as the gripping story of her family. In fact, Morrison reveals here that her Nobel Prize-winning novels, such as Beloved and Song of Solomon, were born out of her family's stories-such as those of her great-grandmother, born a slave, or those of her father, having to escape the lynch mobs of the South. With an introduction by the acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni, Morrison hereby weaves yet another fascinating and inspiring narrative-that of herself.