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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Speed Reading Secrets of a Book Critic

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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W H Smith stocks Thomas & Mercer paperbacks

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors take out full-page NYT ad to criticize Amazon

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[ Engadget | 2014-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin prepares double edition of Ali Smith novel

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mitchell, Nicholls and Smith on Man Booker longlist

A novel from crowd-funded publisher Unbound and three Hodder and three Vintage authors are on the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee memoirist insists that she had novelist's blessing

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[ The Guardian | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'The Mockingbird Next Door,' a portrait of author Harper Lee, garners critical praise

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Are African Writers Trumping African-American Authors?

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From Comic to Novelist? What’s the Difference?

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Marvel's API Will Change Cultural Criticism

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[ Fast Company | 2014-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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W H Smith defends "worst retailer" rating

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors on the Air May 22, 2014: Sue Conley and Peggy Smith

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WH Smith official Guildford Festival bookseller

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder Completes Quercus Buy, Smith to Leave Company

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Smith out as Hodder acquires Quercus

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Active Interest Media Promotes Patricia Fox, Hires Two Senior Executives

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[ Folio Magazine | 2014-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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