Zadie Smith on Male Critics, Appropriation, and What Interests Her Novelistically About Trump

In an interview in 2000, Zadie Smith told the Guardian about the pressure she felt after the astonishing success of her debut novel, White Teeth. “I was expected to be some expert on multicultural affairs, as if multiculturalism is a genre of fiction or something,” she said. “Whereas it’s just a fact of life—like there are people of different races on the planet.” Whether it’s indeed a fact of life or, we now fear, a feature of American life that is at risk of erasure, multiculturalism in all its complexity is at the center of Smith’s books. From White Teeth to NW, which was published in 2012, Smith’s characters inhabit mixed urban communities, often in London. Her latest novel, Swing Time, is out this week; set in England and West Africa, the story concerns the friendship of two young girls who meet in a dance class (“our shade of brown was exactly the same”) and traces the paths of their lives over a quarter-century. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2016-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #american life #white teeth #swing time #west africa #young girls

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Fanny Hill auction: Banned book arouses 'strong interest'

A 19th Century copy of banned book Fanny Hill sells for more than nine times its estimate. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2019-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to critics by quoting comic book

On Friday morning, Politico reported that "exasperated" Democratic leaders on the Hill were aiming to "rein in" congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2019-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jill Abramson says Howard Kurtz trying to 'Foxify my book' by focusing on passage critical of New York Times

Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of the New York Times, says that a Fox News report claiming that she views her former employer as biased against President Trump took words from her forthcoming book out of context. The Fox News article, written by Howard Kurtz and headlined "Former NY... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver: first major novel to take on Trump

Nonfiction writers began publishing books about Donald Trump even before Sean Spicer could start lying for him. Fiction writers, though, have been slower to incorporate the Mogul into their work. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2019-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Critic Eileen Battersby dies following car crash

The former Irish Times literary correspondent Eileen Battersby has died aged 60 following a car crash in County Meath this weekend. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zaffre launches new website to galvanise Wilbur Smith brand

Bonnier Books UK imprint Zaffre has launched a new website for brand author Wilbur Smith in a joint venture with his creative team at Wilbur Smith Enterprises. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rooney’s Normal People crowned critics’ book of the year

Sally Rooney’s Normal People is the critics’ choice for book of the year, with eight publications including it in their end-of-year reviews. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly Standard, rightwing magazine opposed to Trump, closes after 23 years

Parent firm blames subscription figures but co-founder says magazine was ‘murdered’ to drive readers elsewhereThe Weekly Standard, one of the last holdouts opposed to Donald Trump within rightwing media, has been closed after 23 years, silencing its hawkish voice on foreign affairs and its... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Atlantic takes on Lethem's Trump-inspired thriller

Atlantic will publish Jonathan Lethem’s first crime novel for 20 years next April. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kupperman’s ‘All The Answers’ Wins PW’s Annual Graphic Novel Critics Poll

Michael Kupperman’s poignant family memoir 'All The Answers' (Gallery 13) has won PW’s 2018 Graphic Novel Critics Poll. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Late-Night TV Hosts Give Publicity-Starved Novelists the Star Treatment

TV coverage of literary fiction has dwindled, but Trevor Noah and Seth Meyers are exceptions. “Who would have guessed that a 700-page novel would be on national TV?” one publishing executive said. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2018-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Leslie Smith obituary

Writer, campaigner and passionate critic of austerity who found fame late in life with his bestselling book Harry’s Last StandIf proof were ever needed that it is never too late to make a major impact, Harry Leslie Smith, who has died aged 95, surely offers it. He was 91 when his bestselling... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former National Enquirer Editor Writing Book About “Trump and His Women”

A former top National Enquirer editor is writing a book about President Donald Trump’s love life. Barry Levine, who was executive editor of the tabloid until he left in 2016, is writing the book about “Trump and his women” for Hachette, reveals the New York Post’s Page Six. It remains an open... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2018-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Most ambitious' Hay Festival Cartagena to star Adichie, Smith and Sands

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Zadie Smith and Philippe Sands are among the literary heavyweights leading Hay Festival Cartagena 2019's line-up in its "most ambitious year yet". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Parker joins WH Smith Travel

Alison Parker, former deputy m.d. at Michael O’Mara, is joining WH Smith Travel as concessions event manager for the company’s Harrods and Selfridges books departments. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bartering with the Facts: How a Novelist Solves a Historical Problem

Samantha Harvey's novel 'The Western Wind' is set in 1491 in England. She needed for there to be a private confession box; her plot hinged on it. One problem: private confession boxes didn't exist. Here's how she solved the puzzle. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marine, novelist, dad: a conversation with Elliot Ackerman

Three-time novelist Elliot Ackerman's latest book, "Waiting for Eden," explores the multiple dimensions of veterans’ lives after war, and what it means to love someone despite limitations and challenges. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American Publishers Join Chorus of Criticism of Europe’s Plan S

The Association of American Publishers enumerates complaints about the European Research Council's much derided open access plan. The post American Publishers Join Chorus of Criticism of Europe’s Plan S appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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W H Smith 'had planned' B&N buy-out

W H Smith reportedly offered to buy struggling US bookselling chain Barnes & Noble (B&N) last year before the deal fell apart. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Long-Serving Times Book Critic, Dies at 84

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt in 1979. Readers and colleagues called him a judicious, authoritative voice on fiction and a seemingly boundless array of subjects, from Persian archaeology to fly fishing. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2018-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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