Positive Obsession

The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler

By: Susana M. Morris

Narrated by: Karen Murray

A magnificent cultural biography that charts the life of one of our greatest writers, situating her alongside the key historical and social moments that shaped her work.

As the first Black woman to consistently write and publish in the field of science fiction, Octavia Butler was a trailblazer. With her deft pen, she created stories speculating the devolution of the American empire, using it as an apt metaphor for the best and worst of humanity—our innovation and ingenuity, our naked greed and ambition, our propensity for violence and hierarchy. Her fiction charts the rise and fall of the American project—the nation’s transformation from a provincial backwater to a capitalist juggernaut—made possible by chattel slavery—to a bloated imperialist superpower on the verge of implosion.

In this outstanding work, Susana M. Morris places Butler’s story firmly within the cultural, social, and historical context that shaped her life: the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, women’s liberation, queer rights, Reaganomics. Morris reveals how these influences profoundly impacted Butler’s personal and intellectual trajectory and shaped the ideas central to her writing. Her cautionary tales warn us about succumbing to fascism, gender-based violence, and climate chaos while offering alternate paradigms to religion, family, and understanding our relationships to ourselves. Butler envisioned futures with Black women at the center, raising our awareness of how those who are often dismissed have the knowledge to shift the landscape of our world. But her characters are no magical martyrs, they are tough, flawed, intelligent, and complicated, a reflection of Butler’s stories.

Morris explains what drove Butler: She wrote because she felt she must. “Who was I anyway? Why should anyone pay attention to what I had to say? Did I have anything to say? I was writing science fiction and fantasy, for God’s sake. At that time nearly all professional science-fiction writers were white men. As much as I loved science fiction and fantasy, what was I doing? Well, whatever it was, I couldn’t stop. Positive obsession is about not being able to stop just because you’re afraid and full of doubts. Positive obsession is dangerous. It’s about not being able to stop at all.”

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

A must read for any Butler fan!

I discovered Butler in the 1980s and read all her novels. I remember when Fledgling came out. I was reading it in hardback on a plane and came to one of the more disturbing passages and closed the book! Morris does an excellent job in analyzing each of Butler's novels (and does a deep dive into all the stuff that makes people squirm in Butler's work) as well as the usual bio info. If you don't like long discussions about what a novel is about (Morris teaches Butler's work), you might skip this. But if you're a fan, this is a fast, easy, interesting read.

Great, in depth biography

This was a great, in depth biography of Octavia Butlers life. It was well researched and included the cultural and political context around the time of each of Butler's novels with background details from her private journals. It made me appreciate Butler's work even more and understand them at a deeper level.

Enjoyed learning about a new author!

I am so glad that I purchased this book to listen to. Before buying it I had never heard of Octavia E. Butler. Now that I have learned so much about her and her writings, I will now try to read as many of her books as I possibly can. They all seem to be very interesting and I can’t wait to get started.

I love Octavia Butler even more

This is a fascinating look at the life of Octavia E Butler and the impact of her interminable curiosity and positive obsessions.

Personal back story mixed with list of work

Personal back story with list of works and educational chronology in relation to world history