Rating: 
Summary: Most vibrant characters this side of London Fields
Review: "The Autograph Man" is a rich and vibrant work of strong characterization and definite heart. Alex-Li Tandem is the strongest character since Keith Talent and Nicola Six from Martin Amis' smart and admirable "London Fields." There are also snatches of Julian Barnes' wit in the incredibly wry cultural interchanges between characters. The Jewish/Goyish bits are hilarious (and I speak as a goy), and Smith dabbles in the emotional tidewaters of grief, shame, and the pathetic obsessions of fame. Thank you!
Rating: 
Summary: Signs of Improvement
Review: "The Autograph Man" is Zadie Smith's second novel, following "White Teeth", and is somewhat less ambitious - I thought it was all the better for that.The main character, Alex-Li Tandem, deals in the autographs of the rich and famous. His great desire in life is to acquire the genuine autograph of the elusive former movie star Kitty Alexander. The plot hinges on Alex's attempts to get Kitty's autograph. Zadie Smith uses this novel to satirise some strange aspects of the North London Jewish community, but more intersting to me was the potential for "The Autograph Man" to be viewed as a somewhat sardonic examination of the modern cult of celebrity, and in particular how some people live their lives vicariously through their celebrity heroes and heroines. It's also a portrait of obsessive behaviour: "all fandom is a form of tunnel vision: warm and dark and infinite in one direction". If some people attach so great an importance to objects such as autographs, (or for that matter writing reviews?), what does that say about the balance in their lives - are they missing or avoiding the really important things? So, I thought that Zadie Smith touched upon some interesting issues in this novel. That's not to say that I thought it was as good a piece of fiction as it might otherwise have been - for example, the humour is very hit-and-miss (the three funny rabbis were anything but), the plot dragged at times (a need for closer editing?), and the characters were mostly two-dimensional. But in all, I thought that this was an improvement on "White Teeth" and that Zadie Smith might be an "author to watch".
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: ... Zadie Smith has brilliantly understood a fundamental of Jewishness, the book exudes it without being overly gushing or cramming anything down the reader's throat, but this book isn't about being Jewish, it's about dealing with grief... This is a wonderful book for anyone who has ever lost a loved one and has had to deal with the loss in his/her own way despite what friends may say or want. This is a book about love, not passionate or fleeting, but deeply seated within friendship, appreciation, admiration and constancy.
Rating:
Summary: Near Perfection, Despite A Couple of Flaws
Review: ...THE AUTOGRAPH MAN, her second, is equally uproarious and deftly written...THE AUTOGRAPH MAN follows Alex-Li Tandem, son of a Chinese father and a Jewish mother, and his three best friends from childhood. Or rather, the three people closest to being what you might, by default, refer to as Alex's friends --- he isn't really the best-friend-having type of guy. ...There's Adam, the formerly pudgy and now svelte, handsome, weed-smoking black Jew; Rubinfine, the halfhearted rabbi; and Joseph, the mysterious, oddly wise eternal nerd. Alex-Li's father orchestrated their youthful bonding during a trip to see a live professional-wrestling match; that same day, the brain tumor he'd been keeping secret killed him. The boys' shared experience of this tragedy seems to have held them together well beyond the point at which they might otherwise have naturally drifted apart. One other thing holds them together: autograph collecting. When Alex met Joseph at the wrestling match, the small, quiet boy sparked his interest in ... the hunt for prized autographs of famous people. For Joseph, it remains a hobby; but when we meet Alex in young-adulthood, we discover that collecting and trading in autographs has become his career, and in one way or another it has bled into the lives of his friends as well. Most of the book takes place in the very blah London suburb of Mountjoy. The action centers on Alex's years-long quest to secure the autograph of one Kitty Alexander, an obscure actress whose most famous role was in a 1952 film called The Girl from Peking, the greatest film ever made according to Alex. The novel's chapters are structured around the Kaballah, but you get the sense that it's merely a device, not inherently important to the story. Even Adam, who seems to believe he's profoundly devoted to his religion, is equally passionate about his love for marijuana. Perhaps the point is that, given the casualness with which these young men embrace their religion, it might as well be something as crass as obsessive autograph trading, founded on the culture of celebrity. But the result is that Judaism becomes a mere fashion accessory, spiritual wallpaper in the characters' world. Throughout the book, Smith touches on the human tendency to put things in categories: For example, Alex is constantly gathering notes for his years-in-the-making book on goyishness vs. Jewishness; characters are mostly multiracial or multicultural; even the autographs young Joseph collects are separated into files for wrestlers, movie stars, etc. If you aren't sure what you want, the book seems to say, at least you can sort what you have. Another related theme that keeps cropping up is authenticity. Is the Kitty Alexander signature he finds in his possession the real thing? Do autographs become less authentic, less valuable, if taken out of context? Is Alex a real Jew? Is Adam more or less Jewish than Rubinfine? And does Alex love his girlfriend less because she's real, a verifiable presence in front of him, rather than a one-dimensional persona like Kitty or, more accurately, a piece of paper with Kitty's signature on it? These are fascinating issues to explore, and Smith does so beautifully --- but there are flaws. Relying too heavily on the Kaballah as a device is one. Also, she distracts needlessly with clever conceits and verbal tics, such as the repetition of autograph-catalogue phrases like "the popular musician Leonard Cohen" or "the popular actress Bette Davis," or "the International Gesture" for this and that. It's cute at first, but soon becomes annoying --- especially after she's lamented the fact, early in the novel, that slogans have replaced clichés in kid-speak these days. But the greatest flaw in the book is within Alex himself. You want to like him, but he doesn't let you in. His technique of deferring grief by surrounding himself in a haze of dulled emotions is understandable, realistic and sympathetic, but impossible to break through. Early on, after a bad acid trip, Alex is wracking his brain to recall what happened: "He remembered the sleep. Deep, padded. But the night before this, the night in question, this was a shut door with its wood warping from some unseen fire, smoke squeezing through. He could not open it. He didn't dare." The novel's main problem is that door never opens. You get a kick out of watching the smoke dance around in nimble and unpredictable ways, but you never see the fire. Still, all that means is we can read Zadie Smith's novels and enjoy them unreservedly....
Rating: 
Summary: Good writing but tiring story
Review: A "coming of age," "searching for an identity" story. Unfortunately even Smith's stellar writing cannot revive this cliché. It's a shame, because Smith seems to have quite a knack for irreverent prose. Perhaps her next effort will be better.
Rating:
Summary: The International Gesture
Review: After an eclectic and auspicious start with such things as a history of London's Royal Albert Hall and a chart of The Kabbalah of Alex-Li Tandem, Zadie Smith's "The Autograph Man" switches to a business-as-usual, straightforward narrative about Alex-Li Tandem and his business of /interest in autographs and his circle of close friends: Joseph, Adam, Rubinfine and Esther. One of the nice things about this novel is the close, supportive nature of Alex and his friends who serve as his personal Greek Chorus: informing and advising Alex throughout the book.
Smith also spends much time discussing the "jewish-ness or goyish-ness of items, feelings or actions: "Goyish trees (oak, Sitka, horse chestnut)...Jewish trees (sycamore, poplar, beech)" that is dropped halfway through the novel and never resolved. (Alex is actually writing a book on the subject). Smith seems to lose interest in this plot strand and, instead of excising it, leaves it in for no reason, thereby contributing to the general sloppiness of the narrative flow.
The novel hits its stride, though when Alex makes an autograph buying and selling trip to New York where he meets his idol, Kitty Alexander: "She is the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. That's it...I think beauty is the realization of the divine on earth."
The New York scenes crackle with excitement and Alex seems to come alive by being in The City and by the idea of his meeting Kitty. When the meeting occurs, Kitty is surprised that Alex is even interested in her: "You are really too young to remember my last film, no matter my first, I think...it suggests a lack of sexual intrigue in your life, to be interested in this ancient history. There is no girlfriend, or she is not effective. There is a lack somewhere. I think this must be true." Kitty has no idea about her celebrity or about celebrity in general. So instead of being the kind of recluse akin to Norma Desmond in "Sunset Blvd," she is charmingly naïve yet realistic about life. She moved out of her celebrity into a place that allowed her to live a natural, if cloistered life. The character of Kitty proves to be one of Smith's successes in "The Autograph Man" for she is a fully realized, warm, empathetic and sympathetic character which is diametrically opposed to our general idea of celebrities. She therefore brings a breath of fresh air to the sometimes musty proceedings.
"An Autograph Man's life is spent in pursuit of fame, of its aura and all the value comes from the degree of closeness to it one can achieve." Smith is also saying that this value is determined in dollars and cents and makes no real contribution to the world. The autograph business is without a soul for it barters and sells mere symbols or signs of a life and is not concerned with the essence of what makes us human: what is in our hearts and minds.
"The Autograph Man" is not a complete success but nonetheless, within its 300+ pages, beats the heart of one who has felt pain and heartache and is searching for ways to quell it's sting and unrelenting sadness.
Rating:
Summary: So you don't like being famous? You can still be subtle!
Review: After the flourish with which Zadie Smith delivered White Teeth upon an unsuspecting readership it perhaps comes as little surprise that her second offering, The Autograph Man, is somewhat self conscious. The protagonist, Alex Li, is crafted unsympathetically and one is left with the impression that Zadie Smith is venting her frustrations of fame upon this emotionally stunted character. Alex Li is fame's hanger-on, trading in other peoples' celebrity, and the author's dislike for this character, and what he stands for, is all too evident. I was intrigued by the author placing a male character at the centre of this novel, as she did (albeit more sympathetically) with White Teeth. I don't understand why Zadie Smith writes about subjects that are so clearly very personal, heart-felt statements, but are subjected to confusion by gender translation. The strengths of White Teeth were in its characterization, scope, humour and inventiveness, all of which seem to be missing here. Although The Autograph Man can be amusing and engaging, the characters simply lack the depth that allows the reader to empathise with them. When the suspension of belief is called for from the reader at a particularly convoluted plot twist it is granted reluctantly: with Archie the reader really believed anything was possible whereas, with Alex, it often seemed implausible that he was capable of anything. This is an adequate, plodding read that I was looking forward to finishing. I hope that Zadie Smith can return to form now that she has had her poke at the lunacy of fame and got the 'difficult second novel' out of the way.
Rating:
Summary: great stuff from Zadie Smith
Review: Alex-Li Tandem is the son of a Jewish mother and a Chinese father, and friends with Rubenstine and Adam (all Jewish of different races) from his cheder class. When he is 13, his father takes him and his friends to a wrestling match in Royal Albert Hall, where they meet the shy Joseph, whose own father ridicules him for collecting autographs. It is at this event that Alex's father collapses and dies from a brain tumor. Fast-forward nearly 30 years, and the 4 boys are still friends. Joseph has gone into insurance sales, but Alex is now a professional "autograph man", selling people's scribbles for money. He has a 10-year relationship with Adam's younger ill sister esther (she had a pacemaker implanted as a child) and the elusive goal of procuring the autograph of the reclusive American movie star of the 1940s, Kitty Alexander. Alex also has head problems and drug problems that lead him to wreck his own car. As Alex messes, then rights, his own life, it becomes evident that this search for an autograph is really to distract him from other things in his life. The book is captivating with its multiracial cast in modern London, all with the problems of most people and none of the Bridget Jones clones. It is refreshing to read this, it is a work of substance.
Rating: 
Summary: The Autograph Man
Review: Autographs. They are little snippets of immortality, a tiny scrawl of fame that you can own for your very own self, as long as you cough up the money. Some people, we are told, signed just about everything, Ginger Rogers being a notable example. Greta Garbo was difficult, her signature worth hundreds of pounds. But the gem, the prize, the jewel in the scepter, was Kitty Alexander. And Alex-Li Tandem, the hero of the tale, has been obsessively searching her down every since the day when he was first introduced to the wonder of autographs, the day his father died.
The novel is built around a pretty sketchy premise, but that shouldn't matter, as it is a post-modern jaunt into the wiles of humanity. Apparently. Unfortunately, however, Smith just doesn't seem able to come up with the goods. All of the typical po-mo ideas are there. Autographs are a fantastic symbol of the shallow culture of mainstream entertainment, of the willingness of so many to spend hard earned money on some ink and some paper, and this could be used as a great social commentary tool. Admittedly, Smith tries. But there is a forced nature to this book, as though she was, while writing, desperately searching for some grasping statement, but nothing came. Empty sentences abound, empty sentences which are not doubt supposed to impress and surprise with wit and clarity. 'Alex watches Joey watching Kitty watching the huge flickering faces of people she presumes to be gods.', is the close to a chapter, a sentence that the author presumably considered insightful and intelligent. But it isn't. We know that people can be obsessed with movie stars, and we know that this is - in some ways - an escape for the mundane reality of our own lives, that we can, through this or that actor, gain a tiny piece of fame and wonder. We know it. It has been commented about countless times, ever since movies began. And yet, through the novel, we have the idea of fame and the hollowness of our own lives, hammered at us with each page.
Alex-Li, as a character, is not very sympathetic. After the prologue, he spends the next 350 pages being drunk, feeling sorry for himself, being rude to his girlfriend and friends, and generally being the type of person you wouldn't want to know. This is unfortunate, because Alex is present on every single page, Alex is the hero, and Alex is the person we are supposed to feel sorry for, because of his deceased father. Perhaps if there had been a hundred pages or so of character building, where we were able to see Alex being nice, being generous, being anything at all that justified the actions of his friends during the remainder of the book. At every turn, after every mistake, every lie, every disappointment, his friends are there, inexplicably, to help him out and pick him up. Sure, that is what friends do, but in a novel where caring about the character is what draws the story along, this isn't good enough. We need a rounder character, a more balanced character, a real character. I couldn't buy into the Alex fan club, yet the novel demanded it of me to succeed. And the ending, the great big build up to the annual Jewish mourning of his father, the ending that had been building since almost the very first page: I didn't care. Why should I? Alex wasn't a person I would want to spend a day with, so why do I care if he can lay a ghost to rest? I don't, and that is the novel's biggest failure.
There are some interesting po-mo techniques used. There are captions, self-referential in-jokes, and the (tiresome) use of the 'International Gesture' for the various gestures and movements of the characters. Actors names are, sometimes, written as though with a pen, as though it were an autograph. The whole character of Adam, a Kabbalah-obsessed dope fiend, was quite interesting, and worked really well, but for the most part, these extra elements fall flat. They take away from the novel's main thread - which was never very strong to begin with - and the whole thing falls apart. Additionally, I didn't find Smith to be particularly funny. The jokes were telegraphed, were obvious, or just weren't funny. Perhaps this is a cultural issue: She is British, I am Australian. But I doubt this, for I have enjoyed many British comedies. I think that it is, unfortunately, simply a case of her not being a humorous author.
Throughout this review, I have been quite negative. There are, however, positives. The book reads very fast. It is casual and can be interesting in some areas - for I knew nothing about the 'Autograph business' before this novel, and now perhaps I know some more. There are times - rare - when the novel picks up the pace and things actually happen, which is exciting as well, but for the most part everything is quite flat.
It should be noted that a better author could have very well succeeded where Smith has failed. A good author can turn just about any topic, any setting, any idea, into a Statement, into a song. Joyce, for example, wrote about one day in the life of a couple of people. Yet the sum of the parts far exceeds the whole, thanks to the genius with which he writes, and dedication to his craft. Herman Melville wrote a story about the Pequod hunting down a whale, and it works on so many levels as to be amazing. So what happened with Zadie Smith? Did she, after a triumphant first novel - which I have not read - a first novel that won awards, praise, respect, did she then not know where to go with her next book? Is this the classic sophomore slump? I think the unfortunate answer is yes. There are moments when Smith's writing is good - the prologue is fantastic - but for the most part, it is a messy, unnecessary waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Disheartening
Review: Before I say anything about the novel, I just want to say that I absolutely loved Smith's debut novel, and was, of course, swallowed whole by all the publicity surrounding it. I think the field day the media had was definitely worth it. It was a great novel, with well-thought out characters possessing wonderful traits, amazingly humorous scenes...and a not perfect, but okay plot (which really didn't matter in the end since I was so engaged in her writing). So I go to the Bookstore on the day of the Autograph Man's release here in North America and wait for 10 minutes before they open (Okay, I was desperate!), grab the book and start reading it. The Prologue holds amazing promise. I'm delighted. Then the first chapter starts, then the next, then the next...and pretty soon, I'm forced to wonder if Smith didn't get someone else to write for her. I had to stop to scratch my head and wonder just what the hell had happened? The characters weren't even cardboard thick-I didn't give a damn about them throughout the whole thing. Then there's this really boring plot which is not as funny as Smith promised us("It's funnier than White Teeth!")and frankly, it doesn't really go anywhere - although they do travel to NY but you know what I mean. The thing isn't so much that I'm angry at her - no, I'm more disheartened than anything else. Because when you pick up a book in the intent of savouring and enjoying it late at night on a stormy night or something, you get really disheartened when you sadly realized it's not what you thought it was. Now, for all those who haven't read it yet, please don't be shaking your heads thinking, poor guy, he put her on too high a pedestal, because that is NOT the case. I actually read about 12 reviews before it was available, and I'd say about 10 of them were negative, yet I failed to be stopped in my mission to read her new novel as quick as I could. And no, I'm also not complaining because its the norm to hate a second novel by a sensational new author. What it comes down to is this: I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, and although I probably will read her next novel, I'll approach it with caution. One more thing: Only the Prologue's worth reading...so if you want to read it, read the Prologue and throw out the rest.
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