"[A] much-talked-about first novel...that manages to be disturbing, affecting and manipulative all at the same time....Precious's street-smart, angry voice...conjures up Precious's gritty, unforgiving world. Sapphire somehow finds lyricism in Precious's life, and in endowing Precious with her own generous gifts for language, she allows us entree into her heroine's state of mind....Alice Walker's ghost hovers more and more insistently over PUSH as the novel progresses, lending Precious's story a blunt ideological subtext." "...[S]hort, brutal and painfully affecting....The novel is a story of almost total despair which trades on the possibility of hope. Most astutely drawn is the way in which Precious both comprehends her situation and is blind to it....Precious has a depth of character, humour, perversity and an engaging mixture of sassiness and naivety." "Despite its political incorrectness and its grim take on the realities of life in the inner city, PUSH is nevertheless a fascinating novel that may well find a place in the African American literary canon....Sapphire's work is sure to win as many hearts as it disturbs minds." "Sapphire displays a potent ability with language and even balances her intense narrative with pointed humor. The author refuses to serve as either moralizer or judge, but that unflinching quality is what makes PUSH especially challenging." "...[A]t the heart of PUSH is a lovely faith in the word. Literacy can't protect Precious from AIDS, but it can create wonder--not just bitterness."