‘He had rented a smile off somebody and it was the wrong size.’ It’s lines like this that, for me, define Zadie Smith’s writing and keep me coming back for more. Having thoroughly enjoyed her other two novels, On Beauty and White Teeth, her second novel, The Autograph Man, did not disappoint.
Alex-Li Tandem is the ‘autograph man’, an autograph dealer waiting for that life-altering deal to happen. Whilst adamant that he is a dealer and not a collector his one treasured possession is the autograph of Kitty Alexander, an elusive 1950s movie starlet with whom he is obsessed. On a trip to New York for a tradeshow he meets Kitty and so follows a series of unusual events including Kaddish, subterfuge and the biggest deal of Alex’s career.
Smith packs so much into her stories, in some ways, more than she needs to but at the same time it’s just enough. I imagine she was that kid at school who always did extra homework, producing an essay with an accompanying diorama when a one-pager would have sufficed. It is such meticulousness and dedication to her story that makes one want to show one’s appreciation by being a good reader; to never rush, to heed every word; to pause and consider.
As always it is Smith’s characters that are the bedrock of her story. They do border on caricature at times but not in a way that undermines their integrity. Smith maintains a beautiful balance between humour and humanity that keeps her characters grounded in the real world. Smith never takes herself, or life, too seriously; there’s always a light side.
The plot in The Autograph Man does drift a little occasionally. This may have been deliberate; however Smith’s latest novel, On Beauty, is much tighter and I tend to think that experience is making her a more disciplined writer.
Clearly I’m a fan of Zadie Smith and enjoyed The Autograph Man. If you’ve never read any of Smith’s novels I recommend reading On Beauty first; it’s a great introduction to the work of this talented writer and a somewhat easier read than her other two books.
