Is it hard to read?
Somewhat. Phonetic spelling, fragmentary prose, and blunt, profane first-person narration take some adjustment. The story follows a linear path; the greater challenge is the emotional intensity of Precious’s experiences.
Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction
Push
Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 34 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 240 pagesVintage · 2021
- Reading time
- 4 h 45 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Moderate
- Emotional intensity
- 5 / 5
About 4 h 45 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 10 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
In Harlem in 1987, sixteen-year-old Precious Jones is sent to an alternative school after becoming pregnant for the second time by her father, who rapes her. Her mother beats her, and years in classrooms have left her unable to read or write. At Each One Teach One, Ms. Blu Rain asks Precious and her classmates to keep journals, making literacy a way to describe experiences she has never been able to explain.
Reader notes
Phonetic spelling and blunt, profane narration take some adjustment in this adult literary novel. Precious’s voice moves between sharp humor and intense distress; the accounts of incest and physical abuse are graphic, and learning to write remains inseparable from the struggle to survive.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Direct · Experimental · Fragmentary
- Tone
- Dark · Hopeful · Intimate · Unsettling
- Structure
- Linear
- Driven by
- Character · Relationships · Voice
- Point of view
- First person
- Setting
- Harlem, New York City
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Class
- Coming of age
- Parenthood
- Race and racism
- Transformation
- Trauma
Content notes
- Violence
- Strong
- Sexual content
- Strong
- Swearing
- Strong
- Substance use
- Mild
- Abuse
- Strong
- Self-harm or suicide
- Strong
Questions readers ask
What disturbing content should I expect?
Graphic incest, rape by a parent, and physical abuse are central to Precious’s story. There is also strong language and strong content involving self-harm or suicide, making the reading emotionally intense.
Is it entirely bleak?
No. Precious’s voice moves between sharp humor and intense distress, and the dark, unsettling story also has a hopeful element. Learning to write gives her a way to describe experiences she has never been able to explain.
How central is learning to read and write?
Literacy is central to Precious’s struggle to survive. At the alternative school Each One Teach One, Ms. Blu Rain asks her and her classmates to keep journals, connecting learning to write with finding language for their experiences.
Who is it best suited to?
Adults looking for literary fiction centered on character and voice, with experimental prose and an intimate perspective on trauma. Precious’s narration and her relationships carry a story in which education and survival remain closely connected.
How long is it?
240 pages in the Vintage 2021 paperback edition.
Which edition is shown here?
Vintage · 2021 · Paperback. ISBN 9780593314609.
How long does it take to read Push?
About 4 hours 45 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 240-page Vintage edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Sapphire
Sapphire, the pen name of Ramona Lofton, is an American performance poet and novelist who has also taught reading and writing. Her work spans the poetry collections American Dreams and Black Wings & Blind Angels and the novels Push and The Kid. Her fiction repeatedly turns to children and young people facing violence and failures of family and public institutions, without presenting their circumstances as wholly determining their futures. In Push, literacy drives both character and form: as Precious learns to read, write, and keep a journal, the novel’s direct, fragmented language makes self-representation part of its narrative method. The Kid continues Sapphire’s attention to a vulnerable young person, following Precious’s son through settings marked by violence and uncertain possibilities for belonging.
If you liked this
Edition and details
- Publisher
- Vintage
- Publication year
- 2021
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 240
- ISBN
- 9780593314609
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 1996
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction · Coming of age · Experimental fiction · Social novel
- Editions
- 16
- Languages
- 5 (German, English, Spanish, French, Unspecified)