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Ben MarcusBen Marcus's books The Age of Wire and String and Notable American Women were considered "experimental" fiction because of his unconventional use of... Continue »
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The Autograph Man

by Zadie Smith

The Autograph Man Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

We live in a world of signs.

But not everybody has to trade in them....

Alex-Li Tandem sells autographs. A small blip in a huge worldwide network of desire, his business is to hunt for names on paper, collect them, sell them, and occasionally fake them—all to give the people what they want: a little piece of Fame. But what does Alex want? Only the return of his father, the reinstatement of some kind of all-powerful, benevolent God-type figure, the end of religion, something for his headache, three different girls, infinite grace, and the rare autograph of forties movie actress Kitty Alexander. With fries.

The Autograph Man is a deeply funny existential tour around the hollow things of modernity: celebrity, cinema, and the ugly triumph of symbol over experience. Through London and then New York, searching for the only autograph that has ever mattered to him, Alex follows the paper trail while resisting the mystical lure of Kabbalah and Zen, and avoiding all collectors, con men, and interfering rabbis who would put themselves in his path. Pushing against the tide of his generation, Alex-Li is on his way to finding enlightenment, otherwise known as some part of himself that cannot be signed, celebrated, or sold.

Review:

"A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that?s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time." The New York Times

Review:

"Smith is...a master of style whose prose is playful yet unaffected, mongrel yet cohesive, profound yet funny, vernacular yet lyrical." Los Angeles Times

Review:

"Smith writes sharp dialogue for every age and race — and she?s funny as hell." Newsweek

About the Author

Zadie Smith was born in northwest London in 1975 and continues to live in the area. The Autograph Man is her second novel. Her first, White Teeth, was the winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, and the Commonwealth Writers First Book Prize.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780375501869
Author:
Smith, Zadie
Publisher:
Random House
Author:
Smith, Zadie
Location:
New York
Subject:
General
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Collectors and collecting
Subject:
Picaresque literature
Subject:
Autographs
Copyright:
Edition Number:
1st U.S. ed.
Series Volume:
no. 123
Publication Date:
October 1, 2002
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
347 p.
Dimensions:
9.68x6.48x1.26 in. 1.40 lbs.

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The Autograph Man Used Hardcover
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Product details 347 p. pages Random House - English 9780375501869 Reviews:
"Review" by , "A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that?s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time."
"Review" by , "Smith is...a master of style whose prose is playful yet unaffected, mongrel yet cohesive, profound yet funny, vernacular yet lyrical."
"Review" by , "Smith writes sharp dialogue for every age and race — and she?s funny as hell."
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