despite all the negative things i've heard about this book (eg the james wood review in lrb), i really enjoyed it as an exploration into the weird (and unhealthy) ways reverence can manifest, and the way someone put their smartness to very shallow use. even tho as wood says, smith's characters often verge on cartoonish, they still remain believable to me and i think this is actually an intelligent way of pointing out the absurdity of so much of human life/culture??

J'ai hésité entre deux et trois étoiles. Mais si la partie où Alex-Li est à New-York m'a davantage plu, je dois avouer que le reste du roman m'a plutôt ennuyée. Dommage, j'avais beaucoup aimé "Sourires de loup"

I am so glad that this is the second zadie smith book that I have read, for rest assured, if it had been the first it would have been the only.

This is appalling and I am not sure what kept me going through its 410 pages.

Its starts Ok with a prelogue that reads as though it has been tagged on. Three kids and a father go to a wrestling match between Big Daddy and Haystacks and the one child gets an autograph. Only by reading reviews of the book did I realise that the father died during the scramble to get the autograph. This is even after revisiting the section!

Incredible.

Then the stort meanders on as the kids are in their mid twenties. Alex Li Tandem is half chinese, half jewish and all dull. He lives a slacker life trading autographs, eventually travelling to America to a collection fayre where he tracks down the elusive Kitty and collect artifacts that make him money.

Whereas On Beauty was full of excellent charaterisation - this was bland beyond belief. Chapter headings tried to tie in with Kabbalism, whcih I know nothing about and the whole story (for what there was) lurched from nothingness to nothingness with no drama or interest.

As you would expect, there were some smart observations and turns of phrase but the end (especially the end) was dull beyond belief and a relief to finish.

I will try White Teeth to see which part of the spectrum that appears at.

i’m going to pretend this wasn’t zadie smith and was instead some strange debut from someone i probably won’t read again

One of the problems with this book, is that it will inevitably be read with 'White Teeth' in mind, and unfortunately, it really doesn't compare. While it demonstrates Smith's tongue-in-cheek humour, it is incredibly slow to start, and the characters are such superficial creations, that it is often difficult to empathise with them. I agree with another reviewer who suggests that Smith seems to have packed too many ideas in here. This results in a novel which is not as satisfyingly complete as her debut, or indeed, the follow up 'On Beauty.'
'Autograph Man' raises some interesting discussions relating to contemporary consumerism and materialism, but lacks the substance and insight perhaps expected of its author.

This is the fourth book by Zadie Smith I've read in the last 5 months, and is by far my least favorite. Although I appreciate her talent and the humor in her writing (she can really turn a phrase,) this one just didn't ring my bell. The characters were interesting sketches of people but because that's all they were, I never felt connected to any of them and thus did not care about the plot (which was a bit odd). I powered through where I might have bailed on another book because I'm a fan of Smith and I was hoping she would come through. Alas...

The book is nothing short of brilliant. While I cannot say with any authority on a drinking Chinese British Jew who is an Autograph Man, Zadie Smith makes you feel she knows one intimately. Creating a character who is effortlessly brilliant (I found him so), is not easy. I have very often in life wondered what the hell some characters in the book are saying. And Alex-Li also wonders that when in conversation, 'I have no idea what you just said or meant' or 'What does that even mean'.

Now to the book brief. Alex Li is an Autograph man, late twenties with an obsession that lasts more than a decade for Kitty Alexander, a 1950s celebrity. Owning her autograph has become a simple point of focus for Alex who otherwise chooses not to focus on anything else. His life, his friends, his relationships and he himself are what the book is all about. Do read the book. It's so much better than White Teeth!

Пофалба до ИЛИ-ИЛИ за добриот превод.

Одамна слушам само пофалби за Зејди Смит па кога ја видов книгава за само 100 денари, решив дека е тоа е тоа и морав да ја купам.

Ова е приказна за Алекс, собирач и препродавач за автограми и иако корицата вика дека неговата цел е да им даде на луѓето дел од славата за која сонуваат, мојот впечаток беше дека всушност токму тој е во потрага по сопствената слава. Чудно опседнат со една глумица, недоволно разјаснети детали, пријатели кои се обидуваат да му помогнат, но притоа создаваат компликации во бизнис.

Идејата како идеја е добра, не сум читала ништо слично досега, но имаше неочекувано многу религиски моменти, за Евреите и кабалата, за смртта. Приказната си има своја тежина и сметам дека други луѓе би ја ценеле многу повеќе од мене. Ќе ја разменам книгава на следната размена на книги и се надевам дека повеќе ќе му се допадне на следниот читател.

Верувам дека повторно ќе ја читам Смит во иднина, има дела кои навистина звучат интересно, но по одредено време :)

After a great read with White Teeth I did not finish this one. Too Jewish ? Too goyish ? Probably both. I was bored and not interested at all by the story. I loved the 40 first pages of the prologue though.

Unlike seemingly everybody else, I didn't think White Teeth was wonderful. As I remember from around the early 2000s, it was okay, and maybe something was wrong with the way it ended. Very little has stuck with me. And therefore I didn't hop aboard the Zadie Smith bandwagon.

Fast forward to last year, when I asked my daughter-in-law what gift she wanted and she said she'd like the Zadie Smith books she hadn't read.

I warned her what I was reading about The Autograph Man, but never mind, she wanted it anyway.

Well, it's available on Prime now, but at that point, you could only get it used.

When I saw the book, another surprise: why the name of God and the Kabbalistic seferot (ten attributes of God)? Is Zadie Smith Jewish?

Another half year and I've read it. I like it! Off and on, I didn't know what was going on (exacerbated by the fact I started the book when I was sick), but from the beginning I knew I was in the presence of genius. Now, it's true I've occasionally taken confusion for genius, a la Donna Tartt's A Secret History, but not this time.

Of all of Ms. Smith's books, "The Autograph Man," her second novel, garnered the most mixed reaction, which is why I read it last. I can certainly understand the disappointment for those critics and fans who awaited its arrival after her stunning debut, "White Teeth." Its tone, especially in the first half, is somber and claustrophobic, as the reader follows the protagonist, Alex Li-Tandem, through the aftermath of a drug-induced hangover as he prepares for the anniversary of his father's death. It takes a good hundred and fifty pages before the narrative picks up speed, a plot, and finally a broader cast of characters, which is always where this authors shines, her biggest gift being the ability to capture the voices and inner lives of men and women from a multitude of ages, races and socioeconomic roles. In this second half, the title and ruminations on fame that seemed so esoteric in the first half come to gripping life as Alex travels to New York in search of a reclusive star and meets an unlikely companion on his journey. But, it's the ending, which in both her more lauded first and third novels she was criticized for over stage-managing, where this novel shines, for though the plot comes to a pleasing conclusion, the characters are all left in very recognizable places of transition, between my generation's extended adolescence and adulthood, a threshold where we must look at faith, love and the relationships in our lives and realize that no amount of pop culture savvy can save us.

Jag har suckat mig igenom läsningen, har fortfarande inga känslor för huvudkaraktären, en alkoholist som har svårt att få ihop sin skit, tror inte på händelseutvecklingen, får inte ihop det tidsmässigt, saknar hela sjok av gestaltning, kan inte bry mig mindre om hela grejen med autografer eller ens att möta en känd skådespelare och är mest förvirrad. Vilket SKULLE kunna betyda en god recension från min sida, förutom just det där att jag inte bryr mig, jag GILLAR komplicerat och underligt och snårigt men i det här fallet känns det faktiskt mest som rätt dålig litteratur. Jag förstår att det handlar om att sörja, att inte acceptera sin faders död, och så. Men nej. Jag tror att den hade behövt sju vändor till i redigeringen, så hade den kunnat landa någonstans. Väljer du mellan den här och andra av Zadie Smiths böcker, välj någon annan. Gillade Vita tänder och tror mer på tex Om skönhet, än denna.