Rating: 
Summary: Slow start; sublime ending
Review: Smith's novel begins with the painful flashback of Alex-Li's father's sudden death, which occurred when Alex-Li was a boy. When the flashback ends, we find a young adult Alex-Li - who is coming off of a drug binge and discovering the carnage that he wrecked to his belongings, friends and girlfriend. These chapters would be difficult enough for the reader to understand (perhaps intentionally so) without Smith's layering of complex religious theology and mysticism. For example, the first page of the book contains a drawing of circles entitled the "Kabbalah of Alex-Li Tandem". These puzzles aside, the book's pace and comprehensibility improve markedly when Alex flies to New York in pursuit of an aged starlet (Kitty) whose autograph is the holy grail of autograph collectors. It is here where Alex-Li's character finally escapes the haze of drugs and engages the reader in the struggle between what is meaningful and what is empty symbolism. (What meaningful content does an autograph have, anyway?) The book's last chapters, in particular, tackle this internal struggle, which most Generation X members have encountered in one form or another (see, for example, Ethan Hawke's Ash Wednesday and Scott Gaille's The Law Review). I felt the beginning of The Autograph Man was two-stars, but the last half of the book was contemplative and beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: try the audiobook
Review: The Autograph Man is made for listening-- especially because the reader of the audiobook, Stephen Crossley, gives one of the best performances I have ever heard. The characters, with their various accents come alive The themes ( mania for connection with the famous or infamous, father and son, friends, romances, Judaism etc blend into a comic yet sympathetic portrait of its mixed-race and mized -up hero, Alex-Li Tandem.
Rating:
Summary: a fine book, but not great
Review: The Autograph Man is the second novel by Zadie Smith, author of the critically acclaimed novel White Teeth . White Teeth was a top rate book and could be considered Literature....with a capital L. The Autograph Man is more light-hearted, and a faster paced novel. It is much more obviously comic but still demonstrates Zadie Smith's extraordinary gift as a novelist.The story follows Alex-Li Tandem, a Chinese-Jewish Autograph Dealer from London. This might be the most normal part of the story. Alex's father dies taking Alex and two other boys (who are not Alex's friends at the time but remain lifelong friends) to a wrestling match. Alex is obsessed with 1950's actress Kitty Alexander and in his sub-culture of Autograph dealers, Alexander's signature is worth thousands of dollars...all because of its rarity. Alex tries to get her autograph and eventually travels to America to meet her. Nothing in this book is normal, or conventional, but all of it is interesting. While this may not be as Good (capital G) a novel as White Teeth , this is more of an accessible novel and is still a good contemporary novel. The Autograph Man did not garner the critical attention that her first novel did, and it would not have deserved it if it had, but this novel is also being held up to a difficult standard. The Autograph Man succeeds in keeping me interested most of the way through the book (it loses focus somewhat at the end and just sort of trails off) and also keeps me interested in seeing what Zadie Smith's next novel will be.
Rating: 
Summary: Very nearly a good book, but not quite
Review: The first chapter would make an excellent short story. It was funny, touching, had great characterization of the characters as children, and an interesting digression about the Albert Hall that was so good I had to read it aloud to family members.
The rest of the novel didn't hold up as well.
Alex, the protagonist, is not likeable and not really believable either. A protagonist should definitely be either likeable or realistic. So I found myself not caring about him too much and not engaging very well with the issues that I think Smith is trying to raise through him. The Jewishness versus Goyishness thing got old for me very quickly. I just can't get into labeling all things and concepts and people who are cool and deep and interesting Jewish and all things, people, concepts that are boring and shallow Goyish. I swear that I'm not offended because I'm a gentile. I enjoy laughing at the expense of gentiles normally, really I do.
The plot is cute but not great. Using an acid trip as a plot device is pretty passe, but once it gets past that it gets better. The great struggle to find what makes cultural authenticity is explored in the plot via the autograph auction circuit. Smith spotlights the absurd way that everyone cherishes their 15 minutes of fame, no matter how they got it.
What is great about the book is the humor. Smith writes wittily and I laugh out loud at least once every 5 pages or so. Worth a read, at least for the first chapter.
Rating: 
Summary: Painful
Review: The prologue was wonderful - every bit as good as White Teeth - but the body of the book is terrible. The characters were dull and self-absorbed, so I really didn't want any of them to meet a happy ending. Reading about them felt like being the only sober person at a party - that is, a party full of glamour-slumming 22-year-olds who thought they were being very deep. I'll keep my faith in Zadie Smith, though. White Teeth and the prologue to Autograph Man were too brilliant to just give up on her.
Rating:
Summary: Hmm...
Review: This book, to me was pretty boring. I only read to half the book and put it away. Maybe one day I will open up this book again, but it won't be soon.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Those who enjoyed Zadie Smith's first novel, "White Teeth," and liked her new and different voice will be let down by "The Autograph Man," the fragmented tale of Alex-Li Tandem and his search for . . . peace? Himself? Or just this movie star's autograph? "The Autograph Man" gets off to a good start, with a flashback of Alex-Li and two friends being taken to a wrestling match at the Albert Hall by Alex-Li's dad. It is a fateful trip for several reasons: first, Alex meets the boy who will turn him on to autograph collecting and thus set him on his professional path. Second: Alex's father dies of a massive heart attack shortly after the match between Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks is over. This prologue contains the dead-on dialogue and offbeat cultural observations that Zadie Smith writes so well. It is exactly like spending too long in the car with three precocious thirteen-year-old boys. One is a classic urban Jewish kid, another is a black African Jewish kid, and then there's Alex-Li, a half Chinese Jewish kid. The fact that Alex-Li's dad, a man you like immediately, has offered to take these three to a wrestling match ranks as one of those truly selfless acts of a parent's love. Zap to the present, where, as one character puts it, the best and the brightest work on the fringes of the entertainment industry. Alex-Li is now a full-time Autograph Man. That arcane industry is cunningly limned, but truth to tell, it is very hard to care about these self-absorbed characters now that they are adults. That they are frequently drunk or stoned adds to the sense of disaffection experienced by them and unfortunately the reader as well. There is some Jewish mysticism stirred in for spice, but ultimately "The Autograph Man" never comes together. Besides Alex's father, only the movie star turns out to be someone you can care about. "White Teeth" garnered many literary prizes and "The Autograph Man" is unlikely to capture any. That's okay. Consider this a phase. Zadie Smith's next book will still be worth looking forward to.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, Tragic, woefully disappointing
Review: To second the opinion of one reviewer, those who enjoyed "White Teeth", Zadie Smith's first novel, will be very unhappy with this. While the book attains eloquence and frequently beauty it leaves us with a hunger for...more. More character development (a la WT) more characters, a flowing and wild plot that seems to be heading somewhere while retaining a sense of its place in reality. Anything really resembling White Teeth is lacking. While this book is quite interesting and great it is not White Teeth. It is subdued and borderline boring. If you've yet to read "White Teeth" and are considering this instead I implore you, buy White Teeth and wait until Ms. Smith releases something else, her talent will prevail it's just in a difficult stage.
Rating:
Summary: Very Intriguing, Not Insightful
Review: Zadie Smith is by all accounts a good writer well worth reading. She has a knack with words, and the feeling and situations they convey, that many authors older and more experienced do not have. However, the book is rambling and directionless. One would think that Alex-Li would learn something/grow up/evolve like we expect all great characters to do (i.e Holden Caulfield, Alex of Clockwork Orange). Maybe I missed the Ah-Ha moment, but there seemed to be many places within the pages that begged for one. Smith writes like there is a grand purpose to where she has lead her characters, but then seems to lose focus. It almost seems that she is attempting to show the reader that life is not like a novel, and her novel is more like life. The only problem with that is: I picked up a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Very Intriguing, Not Insightful
Review: Zadie Smith is by all accounts a good writer well worth reading. She has a knack with words, and the feeling and situations they convey, that many authors older and more experienced do not have. However, the book is rambling and directionless. One would think that Alex-Li would learn something/grow up/evolve like we expect all great characters to do (i.e Holden Caulfield, Alex of Clockwork Orange). Maybe I missed the Ah-Ha moment, but there seemed to be many places within the pages that begged for one. Smith writes like there is a grand purpose to where she has lead her characters, but then seems to lose focus. It almost seems that she is attempting to show the reader that life is not like a novel, and her novel is more like life. The only problem with that is: I picked up a novel.
|
