Reading Order
Song of Solomon Reading Order
Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon (1977) is a complete standalone novel and her third. It follows Macon 'Milkman' Dead III, a Black man in Michigan in the 1960s, who goes south to find gold he believes his father has hidden and instead finds the story of his family — including the legend of his great-grandfather Solomon, who flew back to Africa. Song of Solomon won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1977 and was the first novel by a Black American author selected for the Book of the Month Club since Richard Wright's Native Son in 1940.
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Song of Solomon
Complete Song of Solomon Book List
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Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison·1977·Standalone — Milkman Dead searches for family gold in the American South and finds instead the legend of his ancestor Solomon who flew back to Africa; Morrison's breakthrough novel and National Book Critics Circle Award winner 1977
Song of Solomon — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Song of Solomon a standalone?
Yes — Song of Solomon is entirely self-contained. Morrison's other novels are independent works set in different periods and locations.
What does the title Song of Solomon mean?
The title refers to the biblical Song of Solomon (also called Song of Songs), a book of erotic poetry traditionally interpreted as both a love poem and an allegory of spiritual longing. Morrison uses the title to evoke the lyrical, oral tradition of African American culture — the novel is full of song, legend, and the spoken word as a form of historical preservation. 'Flying Africans' — the legend that enslaved Africans could fly back to Africa — is a real tradition in Black American folklore that Morrison draws on for the novel's climax.
Is Song of Solomon easier to read than Beloved?
Most readers find Song of Solomon more accessible than Beloved — it has a clearer narrative structure (a quest story), a protagonist readers can follow chronologically, and less of the fractured, traumatic time of Beloved. Both novels use Black oral tradition and myth, but Song of Solomon is closer to a traditional novel in its form. It is an excellent entry point to Morrison's work.
What is 'the flight' at the end of Song of Solomon?
The novel ends with Milkman Dead leaping from a cliff toward his friend Guitar, who has become an assassin. Whether Milkman flies or falls is deliberately ambiguous — Morrison leaves the ending open. The flight refers both to the physical leap and to the legend of Solomon who flew back to Africa. Milkman has, across the novel, found the story of his ancestor; whether the literal flight is possible is less important than whether Milkman has finally understood what freedom means.
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