The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983, making Walker the first black woman to win for fiction; in 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks had won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.[5][6][7] Walker also won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983.[8][7] Mel Watkins of the New York Times Book Review wrote that it is a "striking and consummately well-written novel", praising its powerful emotional impact and epistolary structure.[9] It was also named a PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick.[7]
The book received greater scrutiny amidst controversy surrounding the release of the film adaptation in 1985.[10] The controversy centered around the depiction of black men, which some critics saw as feeding stereotypical narratives of black male violence, while others found the representation compelling and relatable.[11]
On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed The Color Purple on its list of the 100 most influential novels.[12]
Censorship in the United States
Though the novel has garnered critical acclaim, it has also been the subject of controversy. The American Library Association placed it on the list of top hundred banned and challenged books in the United States from 1990 to 1999 (17),[13] 2000 to 2009 (17),[14] and 2010 to 2019 (50),[15] as well as the top ten list for 2007 (6) and 2009 (9).[16] Commonly cited justifications for banning the book include sexual explicitness, explicit language, violence, and homosexuality.[17]
