Rating: 
Summary: Lager and Loathing
Review: Zadie Smith is such a terrific writer that one isn't immediately aware of how dire her second novel quickly becomes. The sentences still glimmer, but slowy the wit begins to curdle, and eventually turning the pages becomes a struggle.The opening is spectacular, a superlatively funny and sad miniature that taken as short story far outshines the long novel that follows -- exactly the sort of leap forward one might hope for from the author of White Teeth. Unfortunately, then comes the rest of the book, focused on Alex-Li, a boy in the prologue, now an aimless young man. The novel seems to intend itself as a comedy of self-loathing: Alex and his friends are cinema-addled, emotionally stunted boy-men incapable of separating media fiction from reality, of connecting to flesh and blood women. While not particularly original, this is a vein that's been successfully mined for decades, and there's plenty of peculiar color in the worlds of autograph men and multicultural British Judaism. The problem, finally, seems to be that the author identifies not with Alex, but with the put-upon (and predominantly off-stage) women in his life. So the tone is not one of self-loathing, but just, well, loathing. The hectoring feel of the narrative collapses our sympathy for Alex. He's presented as a big loser, no more no less. Eventually we cease to care about him, and all the jokes in the world can't help that. By it's end, the novel disintegrates into pure, frantic farce -- a big disappointment from such a distinctive writer -- but it won't stop me from reading the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Clever but ......
Review: Zadie Smith is without doubt one of the brightest young writers around. Her original use of language, wit and ideas are a breath of fresh air and she deserves to be read for this alone. White Teeth was my favourite read of 2001. She displays all of her talent in this second outing. But it was still a bit of a disappointment. Much of the storyline seemed pointless and it fizzled out rather than ended. The characters - so strong in WT - are a bit shallow. Alex began to get on my nerves by the end. As he struggled to find his identity I found the book had the same problem. Or perhaps I'm being goyish. But for all that I couldn't put it down and she is a genius - so four stars anyway.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Novel from a Great Writer
Review: Zadie Smith's Autograph Man is a good novel. Zadie Smith herself is an incredibly talented writer. Autograph Man, while good, pales in comparison to White Teeth, and yet, because of her talent Autograph Man is still pretty good. The story of Alex-Li Tandem and his quest for the autograph of an reclusive 50s movie star lacks a certain cohesiveness to make it all hang together and work. You cannot say anything bad about each individual paragraph or sentence in the novel--it's just that, taken as a whole, there is something missing. Still, it makes for good fun reading.
Rating:
Summary: Smith's second novel excellent
Review: Zadie Smith's second novel is no "sophomore slump," as she again gives us the best (and worst) of British culture. In it we meet Alex-Li Tandem, who grows up to become an avid autograph collector. His life a mess, Alex attempts to get the autograph of the elusive (and reclusive) 1950s star Kitty Alexander. Alex is a complicated character, hard to put in just a few words. In some ways I wish Smith would have elaborated more on him.
Alex's search for Fame (or a little piece of it) leads him to form a friendship in the most unlikely of places. His trip to New York to visit an Autograph Convention infuses him with new life, and leads Alex to reconsider the life he leads. An underlying theme of the book is authenticity- are the autographs he collects real or not?
As with her first novel, White Teeth, Smith presents a mixed cultural heritage: Alex is both Jewish and Chinese; this mixed heritage is a major theme in the book, leading Alex to explore Jewishness versus Goy-ness. Zadie Smith is an intelligent, perceptive author who uses what she has to the utmost in her novels. As in White Teeth, Smith is sarcastic and witty, but she respects the sadder or more sober aspects of life, too. She is an author who is sensitive to and understands the "inner character" of her protagonists.
If the Autograph Man doesn't satisfy you as a second novel, don't worry. Zadie Smith is a brilliant author, worthy of the canon of English literature; I hope she has something else coming soon, to whet our appetites.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliance
Review: Zadie Smith's writing is pure brilliance. When I read 'White Teeth', I couldn't believe that I was reading the work of a 25-year-old. I'm 24 and couldn't imagine coming up with the stuff that she does. Naturally, I couldn't wait to read her second novel, 'The Autograph Man'. Zadie's characters and/or stories may be a bit depressing and sad, but her style of writing just blows my mind. The sarcasm, the wit, the semi-streamofconsciousness writing...it's not for everyone, but if you get it, you will like it.
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