The Autograph Man

by Zadie Smith

Book Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of Swing Time and one of the most revered writers of her generation comes an "intelligent ... exquisitely clever [novel] about fame, mortality, and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 037570387X
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.8" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

The quest for the holy Grail

What is wrong or good with this book. What are the relations between main character, what is the main plot, or any of the other subplots, what is that that Zadie smith is trying to do. Questions, which vary in answers. Depending on the viewpoint of person who writes them. I'll do my best to try and summarise it shortly. Alex Li-Tandem, jew and chinese in same person. Weehaw, that, you could think, presents an excellent starting point for a story about hate, rasisim, justice that is no justice at all and standard post-modern pro-cultural prose. But, what we actually find here is, I do not know how to phraze it, but something which bears much resemblance with a intimate search fore onself. Lookin ag the religion as just some sort of gest, Aley li Tandem, finds his religion in much more mundane thing, autograph collecting, with Kitty Alexander in a role of her life as Jehova. Neglecting anything but that, his "social" and/or intimate relationships suffer greatly. With few excurses with a jokes, or anegdotes, with pictures now and then that helps to break boredomness of every written text, Smith's managed to write very compelling story, and much thought provoking one. Maybe somwhat too playfull for a matter that it tried to bring up to the light of day, this book stands for itself as a beacon to every young writer or independent thinker out there (sorry about typos, i have a very bad keyboard here :))

But, she's not Jewish?

Life, Death, Relationships, Fame, Notoriety, all woven through with the nebulous thread of Kabbalah. Of course, Zadie Smith must be Jewish. Smith? Zadie? That's a Jewish name? A testament to Ms. Smith's art is her ability to weave a complex story from a cultural world far removed from her own and do it with amazing coherence. And, those deft observations with a light hand will make aging literary giants green with envy. What an extraordinary talent is Zadie Smith in only her second novel. Bravo! A tour de force, not to missed. Relish every word. Savor every sentence. You won't regret it.

Disappointing? I think not

I must represent a minority point of view, but I very much enjoyed _White Teeth_ and very much enjoyed _The Autograph Man_ as well. For one thing, it is frequently hilarious; for another, it gives us one more compelling portrait of contemporary multicultural London (this alone makes Smith a much more rewarding novelist than Martin Amis, I think).Alex's obsession with autographs makes sense in a couple of ways, I think. Autographs are a surviving trace of vanished individuals -- they do not succumb to time and disappear as the individuals who wrote them do, and so serve -- I ought to say, seem to serve -- as a kind of lingering life for the dead. Holding on to autographs is a way of not letting go of the dead, and Alex's inability to let go of his father is (I think) his defining trait. Autographs are also unique to individuals, or we hope they are -- and thus in a world where all communication seems reduced to infinitely duplicable "international gestures" seem to promise that such a thing as authentic selfhood nonetheless exists. Forgery is not just a way of making a bundle, but an undermining of the cherished idea that I am I and you are you._The Autograph Man_ does not provide precisely the same kind of pleasures that _White Teeth_ did, but should novelists even aim at such a goal?By the way, does anyone beside me think the mysterious Swede with the initials "H. I" on p. 209 must be Archie Jones's uncanny correspondent, Horst Ibelgaufts?

An excellent read

... Zadie Smith has brilliantly understood a fundamental of Jewishness, the book exudes it without being overly gushing or cramming anything down the reader's throat, but this book isn't about being Jewish, it's about dealing with grief... This is a wonderful book for anyone who has ever lost a loved one and has had to deal with the loss in his/her own way despite what friends may say or want. This is a book about love, not passionate or fleeting, but deeply seated within friendship, appreciation, admiration and constancy.

Give it a chance

Dreading the very idea of a literary prodigy, I stubbornly refused to read White Teeth. So I arrive at this review without any preconceptions. As determined as I was to dislike this book, I really really enjoyed it from start to finish. Read it very quickly, in three of four days, which is quickly because I'm a busy person. I thought it maintained its momentum to the end. Smith is very comfortable with the language and it shows. I think her writing is a little reminiscent of Martin Amis in style who, in turn, is a little reminiscent of his father, but if that's suddenly a bad thing, you'll have to slap my and call me Betty.