"Susana Morris is a queer Afrofuturist feminist visionary. Her work helps us all to see that new worlds really are possible, and she does it with a signature narrative fierceness that makes you want to work hard to bring that world into existence right now." -- Brittney Cooper, author of the NYT bestseller Eloquent Rage

"Positive Obsession is the book you should read, re-read, and then read again. Each reading reveals something new about the inimitable Octavia Butler as it unlocks an unexplored dimension of the imagination. Susana Morris masterfully coaxes Butler's life from the archives, allowing Butler's brilliance and passion to guide her exploration of culture and craft, power and politics. This is more than a biography of one of the greatest writers to ever put words to page. It is a testament to Black women's enduring genius. I want to gift this book to every woman in my life!" -- Tanisha C. Ford, NAACP Image Award-winning author of Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement.

Susana Morris' pen is tender, precise, and rich with care. She brings us into the intellectual and emotional world of Butler, tracing the life of a mind that continues to shape our movements for justice and our visions of liberation. Through Morris, Butler is not only made real--she is made eternal. -- Dr. Bettina L. Love New York Times Bestselling Author of Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal.

"This book is a gift to all of us who benefit from the deeper understanding we gain of Butler as a visionary artist. Maybe I betray a belief in the time travel and telepathy that are major themes of Butler's work when I say that Susana Morris's careful work here is also a gift to Octavia herself. The depth of research and contextual insight in POSITIVE OBSESSION creates a unique biography where Morris not only accompanies the reader through Octavia Butler's work, lifetime and afterlife, she also offers Octavia the retroactive intimacy and care she always deserved and rarely received." -- Alexis Pauline Gumbs, PhD author of Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde

"Drawing on correspondence, interviews, unpublished manuscripts, and archival material, queer Black feminist scholar Morris offers a sensitive examination of pioneering Black science-fiction writer Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006)" -- Kirkus Reviews

"Dr. Susanna Morris presents to us a nuanced and extremely well-researched work that delivers greater insights into the mind and life of one of the most important American writers to ever live. Positive Obsession resonates with the reverberations of Butler's life and stories and shines with the luminescence of a brand new sun." -- John Jennings, Best-selling Illustrator of Kindred: a graphic novel adaptation

"Morris powerfully frames Butler's work and career through her politics and personal struggles, including the way poverty 'threatened to crush her spirit.' The result is a moving study of the life and creative pursuits of a literary pioneer." -- Publishers Weekly