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This is a tough one because you despise the main character’s choices but you also feel sympathetic towards him. And the writing, as always with Zadie, is beautiful.
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The Autograph Man
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In her second novel, The Autograph Man, Zadie Smith has set herself the unenviable task of following up a certain segment of recent literary history. Her first novel, the bestselling, award-laden and much-hyped White Teeth wore its ambitions an exuberant comic foray into the lives of three disparate families living in suburban north London, it dealt simultaneously--and deftly--with wider multicultural and political motifs. The Autograph Man has a similar ebullience and an equally dazzling panoply of characters. Its hero Alex Li-Tandem is "one of this generation who watch themselves", a Chinese-Jewish north Londoner who is first introduced as a child accompanying his father to a wrestling match between those two larger-than-life scions of 1970s Saturday afternoon television--Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks. When Alex's father dies in the pandemonium surrounding the pursuit of Big Daddy's autograph, the twin themes of the novel are launched--one is the bereaved Alex's search for a replacement to fill the gulf, the other his obsession with tracking down, buying and selling autographs. Alex seeks one autograph in particular and seemingly in vain--that of Kitty Alexander, a fading film star. The route he follows in his search has much to say about the nature of celebrity and the privacy of souls, of fantasy and reality--all narrated in Smith's breathless prose.
The Autograph Man plays on many strands and clever observations--in particular Jewishness, goyishness and Zen Buddhism. Smith is a superbly assured writer whose images stick in the mind; for example, Alex's girlfriend Esther has "hair plaited like a puzzle". The dialogue is vivid and there is much humour but at times the convoluted plot threatens to spill over into anarchy and the humour can be self-conscious. Though this does not diminish the entertainment value of The Autograph Man, it does--frustratingly--make it appear insincere. --Catherine Taylor
The Autograph Man plays on many strands and clever observations--in particular Jewishness, goyishness and Zen Buddhism. Smith is a superbly assured writer whose images stick in the mind; for example, Alex's girlfriend Esther has "hair plaited like a puzzle". The dialogue is vivid and there is much humour but at times the convoluted plot threatens to spill over into anarchy and the humour can be self-conscious. Though this does not diminish the entertainment value of The Autograph Man, it does--frustratingly--make it appear insincere. --Catherine Taylor
null pages, Audio CD
First published September 12,2002
This edition
- Format
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null pages, Audio CD
- Published
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February 25, 2003 by Penguin Audio UK
- ISBN
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9780141804750
- ASIN
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0141804750
- Language
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English
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Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
38(38%)
4 stars
28(28%)
3 stars
34(34%)
2 stars
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My first acquaintance with Zadie Smith's work, The Autograph Man has left me convinced of her far-reaching talent. While this book has plenty of flaws, Ms. Smith's story-telling exuberance (for me) wins out and makes my beefs with it seem picayune by comparison.
We follow Alex-Li Tandem, Chinese/English/confused Jew/young alkie/stoner/titular "Autograph Man" as he tries (mostly unsuccessfully) to get past the death of his father thirteen years prior. He's pretty much stuck in Schlub-land, getting stoned and drunk all the time, ignoring his girlfriend working in a go-nowhere profession as an autograph dealer. His life takes a fortuitous turn as he pursues the autograph of his childhood idol, Kitty Alexander, an actress from the 1950's long removed from the public eye.
While I don't agree with most of the criticisms of this book (The Autograph Man is, with a 3.1-star cume Goodreads average, the lowest-rated of Ms. Smith's four novels), she does leave herself open for critical attack. Alex is quite unlikable, the story rambles on quite a bit, the ending is, well...not exactly satisfying. Ms. Smith, though, surrounds our protagonist with three childhood friends; their banter is at times hilarious and make up for Alex's unsympathetic character flaws. The story is consistently engaging and clever.
If you're even casually interested in Judaica, old movies, or schlubby characters in search of themselves, I recommend this book to you. Don't let the low GR rating dissuade you (as it almost did me.)
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A soporific sophomore effort that reads sort of like Philip Roth trying really hard to impersonate Kurt Vonnegut and losing track of his fingers on the way.
White Teeth quite impressed me, so I thought I'd buy the rest of her books and read them in order of publication. Reading Zadie in chronological order maybe wasn't the best idea. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of her books and hopefully I can consider this one just a little curio of Zadie fandom.
White Teeth quite impressed me, so I thought I'd buy the rest of her books and read them in order of publication. Reading Zadie in chronological order maybe wasn't the best idea. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of her books and hopefully I can consider this one just a little curio of Zadie fandom.
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I really like Zadie Smith and there parts of this in which her excellence shone through. But I found it a bit slow at times and confusing. There wasn't a momentum carrying me and Alex, the protagonist, for that matter.
What Smith does well is the crossing of culture and ethnicity through relationships and people. There is something global about her characters and in that way the reader travels into corners many writers do not take us too, let alone so many specific ones in one novel. For example, we have the Jewish corner, the Chinese corner, the London corner, the Hollywood corner, the American corner, the black corner, the wrestling corner, the drug corner, the autograph corner. Who would have thought they could all be in one book? All of these we experience and it is a joy to see Alex try to reconcile with these different parts of his life.
What Smith does well is the crossing of culture and ethnicity through relationships and people. There is something global about her characters and in that way the reader travels into corners many writers do not take us too, let alone so many specific ones in one novel. For example, we have the Jewish corner, the Chinese corner, the London corner, the Hollywood corner, the American corner, the black corner, the wrestling corner, the drug corner, the autograph corner. Who would have thought they could all be in one book? All of these we experience and it is a joy to see Alex try to reconcile with these different parts of his life.
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She hopes for nothing except fine weather and a resolution. She wants to end properly, like a good sentence.
Zadie Smith has been on my list of authors to read for several years, but I'd only heard of her more well-known novels, White Teeth and On Beauty. I found The Autograph Man on a bookshelf in the teacher's lounge at my school and immediately picked it up.
The story was difficult to get into at first, as the main character, Alex Li-Tandem, didn't start off being too sympathetic or relatable. Alex is half-Chinese and half-Jewish, but it's the half-Jewish part that gets the most attention in the book. Alex has Jewish friends who smoke pot and spend their days pondering Jewish mysticism, and he has a black Jewish girlfriend. All in all, this book is incredibly diverse without overtly advertising that fact.
Alex is an autograph man, he collects signatures from celebrities (a habit he picks up from a childhood friend) and sells them on to fans and other collectors. He has collected autographs from hundreds of celebrities, but he's missing the pièce de résistance of his collection, the signature of Kitty Alexander. After a drunken night out, he inexplicably finds a copy that she has sent to him, and that discovery sets him on a journey, to find the elusive 40's star.
There's not too much to be said about the plot here, nothing particularly of note happens. However, what I loved about the novel was Smith's use of language and power of description. I found myself thinking of sentences and phrases hours after reading them. Though much of Smith's discussion of Jewish mysticism passed over my head, I was nonetheless intrigued and eager to read.
Zadie Smith has been on my list of authors to read for several years, but I'd only heard of her more well-known novels, White Teeth and On Beauty. I found The Autograph Man on a bookshelf in the teacher's lounge at my school and immediately picked it up.
The story was difficult to get into at first, as the main character, Alex Li-Tandem, didn't start off being too sympathetic or relatable. Alex is half-Chinese and half-Jewish, but it's the half-Jewish part that gets the most attention in the book. Alex has Jewish friends who smoke pot and spend their days pondering Jewish mysticism, and he has a black Jewish girlfriend. All in all, this book is incredibly diverse without overtly advertising that fact.
Alex is an autograph man, he collects signatures from celebrities (a habit he picks up from a childhood friend) and sells them on to fans and other collectors. He has collected autographs from hundreds of celebrities, but he's missing the pièce de résistance of his collection, the signature of Kitty Alexander. After a drunken night out, he inexplicably finds a copy that she has sent to him, and that discovery sets him on a journey, to find the elusive 40's star.
There's not too much to be said about the plot here, nothing particularly of note happens. However, what I loved about the novel was Smith's use of language and power of description. I found myself thinking of sentences and phrases hours after reading them. Though much of Smith's discussion of Jewish mysticism passed over my head, I was nonetheless intrigued and eager to read.
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Zadie Smith is an author whose books I admire, rather than like. Her way of capturing dialogue is unique. Her plots are deceptively complex and her characters are memorable. Yet I always feel that something is lacking. Once again I felt this with The Autograph Man.
British/Asian Alex Li Tandem collects autographs, deals them and assesses them. he also is a self destructive character who cannot get over the death of his father. Although he does have friends, they are patient with him every time Alex sabotages the friendship. This goes for girlfriends as well. In fact the only consistent thing in his life are autographs. However there is one autograph of his favorite movie star, Kitty Alexander, that he received on a night high on drugs and is unsure whether he has a fake. He does know that she lives in new York and plans to visit her during an autograph convention there. Whether he manages to keep his friendships, pursue his obsessions and maintain a relationships is another story.
The structure of The Autograph Man is interesting. The first part is based on the Kabbalah and each chapter represents a different process Alex goes through, while the second half is loosely based on Zen Buddhism, which Alex experiences to achieve inner peace. Add to some drawings and sketches within the novel and you do have something playful.
Like all of Zadie Smith’s books (I just have NW left to read), the cast of characters are a mixture of races. half Asian Alex, his friend Adam is Afro American living in Britain, Alex’s neighbor is Chinese, his other two friends are Jews, which Alex is as well. No one can create a cultural melting pot like Zadie Smith and I like that.
Despite the fact that I did enjoy reading The Autograph Man, I felt that something was lacking, sometimes the dialogue can get a bit heavy going and the plot development becomes a bit unbelievable which ruins the book. I always feel that there’s a perfect novel inside Zadie Smith but it never seems to emerge, hence why I say I admire her novels.
Just as a note, I tried reading this book in 2002 and couldn’t get past the first ten pages. After 17 years I felt that the time was right to read it and I got through it without any problems. Proof that one should give a book a second chance.
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British/Asian Alex Li Tandem collects autographs, deals them and assesses them. he also is a self destructive character who cannot get over the death of his father. Although he does have friends, they are patient with him every time Alex sabotages the friendship. This goes for girlfriends as well. In fact the only consistent thing in his life are autographs. However there is one autograph of his favorite movie star, Kitty Alexander, that he received on a night high on drugs and is unsure whether he has a fake. He does know that she lives in new York and plans to visit her during an autograph convention there. Whether he manages to keep his friendships, pursue his obsessions and maintain a relationships is another story.
The structure of The Autograph Man is interesting. The first part is based on the Kabbalah and each chapter represents a different process Alex goes through, while the second half is loosely based on Zen Buddhism, which Alex experiences to achieve inner peace. Add to some drawings and sketches within the novel and you do have something playful.
Like all of Zadie Smith’s books (I just have NW left to read), the cast of characters are a mixture of races. half Asian Alex, his friend Adam is Afro American living in Britain, Alex’s neighbor is Chinese, his other two friends are Jews, which Alex is as well. No one can create a cultural melting pot like Zadie Smith and I like that.
Despite the fact that I did enjoy reading The Autograph Man, I felt that something was lacking, sometimes the dialogue can get a bit heavy going and the plot development becomes a bit unbelievable which ruins the book. I always feel that there’s a perfect novel inside Zadie Smith but it never seems to emerge, hence why I say I admire her novels.
Just as a note, I tried reading this book in 2002 and couldn’t get past the first ten pages. After 17 years I felt that the time was right to read it and I got through it without any problems. Proof that one should give a book a second chance.
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I'm 43% of the way through this book and I've decided to leave this one for now as I'm not that interested in the plot or the characters. I'll try other Zadie Smith novels instead.
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The Autograph Man
Alex Li Tandem is an obsessed fan of the Hollywood actress Kitty. Alex is an autograph man who wants to meet his idol. But will Kitty recognize her fan? And what happens when there are allegations that his prized possession of Kitty's autograph is a fake?
This is a heavy piece of writing. Alex is a Chinese Jew who divides the world into Jewish and Goyish. He writes heartfelt fan letters to Kitty for thirteen years while being unable to have an effective communication with his girlfriend of ten years which show the contrasting layers of relationships.
This is a book you have to work on, like a study routine. I had to push myself to read a few portions each day. The beginning is dry but the pace picks up midway. The passages on Judaism, Goyishness and Buddhism featuring both the rational and blind aspects are a joy to read. The idea of a story set in an autograph market is fresh. However Zadie could have written a crisper work by cutting down a 100 pages.
I would recommend this if you want to explore some good writing in contemporary literature, else its a big NO.
Alex Li Tandem is an obsessed fan of the Hollywood actress Kitty. Alex is an autograph man who wants to meet his idol. But will Kitty recognize her fan? And what happens when there are allegations that his prized possession of Kitty's autograph is a fake?
This is a heavy piece of writing. Alex is a Chinese Jew who divides the world into Jewish and Goyish. He writes heartfelt fan letters to Kitty for thirteen years while being unable to have an effective communication with his girlfriend of ten years which show the contrasting layers of relationships.
This is a book you have to work on, like a study routine. I had to push myself to read a few portions each day. The beginning is dry but the pace picks up midway. The passages on Judaism, Goyishness and Buddhism featuring both the rational and blind aspects are a joy to read. The idea of a story set in an autograph market is fresh. However Zadie could have written a crisper work by cutting down a 100 pages.
I would recommend this if you want to explore some good writing in contemporary literature, else its a big NO.
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