Shelfology Book Pairing

by Zadie Smith

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD, CRITICISM CATEGORY FINALIST FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK A timely, powerful collection of essays from one of our sharpest minds and most sparkling stylists. How much joy can a person tolerate? How many kinds of boredom make up a life? Who owns the story of black America? Should Justin Bieber be more like Socrates? And why is there a dead art collector floating in the swimming pool? Dazzlingly insightful, explosively funny, and ever-timely, Zadie Smith is back with a second unmissable collection of essays. From German Old Masters to the new masters of East Coast rap, from social networks opening lines of communication to national referenda closing doors, Feel Free reaches out in all directions and draws back a rich feast of ideas. Here pop culture, high culture, social change, and political debate all get the Zadie Smith treatment: dissected with razor-sharp intellect, set brilliantly against the context of the utterly contemporary, and considered with a deep humanity and compassion. With the easy intimacy of a local and the piercing clarity of an outsider, Feel Free casts a sharp critical eye over the creative luminaries that have shaped our world: from J. G. Ballard to Karl Ove Knausgaard, Orson Welles to Charlie Kaufman, Joni Mitchell to Beyonce, and far beyond. And it considers the points of contact where the author herself meets this world, where the political meets the personal, and critique meets memoir. This electrifying new collection showcases Zadie Smith as a true literary powerhouse, demonstrating once again her credentials as an essential voice of her generation.

25th Anniversary Edition

by Zadie Smith

A stunning new edition of one of the most iconic fictional debuts of all time, to mark the 25th anniversary of this modern classic - perfect for any Zadie Smith fan! 'What's past is prologue...' First published in the year 2000, Zadie Smith's White Teeth was one of the most celebrated novels of the new millennium. Adored by critics and readers alike, it remains a perennial bestseller, which still delights with the audacity of its scope and vision, its fresh-minted style, and the wit and warmth of its voice. Funny, generous and big-hearted, it deals - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle. A life affirming, riotous must-read of a book, it won the Guardian First Book Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. 'Curl up with it, savour every sentence, then turn around and reread' The Times 'The outstanding debut of the new millennium' Observer