White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Notes From Your Bookseller n nSmashing, exhilarating, thoroughly modern but also Dickens-redone: This really is Zadie Smith's first novel, written while she was still a university studemt. n nOn New Year's morning, 1975, Archie Jones sits in his car on a London road and waits for the exhaust fumes to fill his Cavalier Musketeer station wagon. Archie-working-class, ordinary, a failed marriage under his belt-is calling it quits, the deciding factor being the flip of a 20-pence coin. When the owner of a nearby halal butcher shop (annoyed that Archie's car is blocking his delivery area) comes out and bangs on the window, he gives Archie another chance at life and sets in motion this richly imagined, uproariously funny novel. n nEpic and intimate, hilarious and poignant, White Teeth is the story of two North London families-one headed by Archie, the other by Archie's best friend, a Muslim Bengali named Samad Iqbal. Pals since they served together in World War II, Archie and Samad are a decidedly unlikely pair. Plodding Archie is typical in every way until he marries Clara, a beautiful, toothless Jamaican woman half his age, and the couple have a daughter named Irie (the Jamaican word for no problem). Samad-devoutly Muslim, hopelessly foreign-weds the feisty and always suspicious Alsana in a prearranged union. They have twin sons named Millat and Magid, one a pot-smoking punk-cum-militant Muslim and the other an insufferable science nerd. The riotous and tortured histories of the Joneses and the Iqbals are fundamentally intertwined, capturing an empire's worth of cultural identity, history, and hope. n nZadie Smith's dazzling first novel plays out its bounding, vibrant course in a Jamaican hair salon in North London, an Indian restaurant in Leicester Square, an Irish poolroom turned immigrant caf, a liberal publicschool, a sleek science institute. A winning debut in every respect, White Teeth marks the arrival of a wondrously talented writer who takes on the big themes-faith, race, gender, history, and culture-and triumphs. n nAbout the Author: nZadie Smith is twenty-four years old and a graduate of Cambridge University. White Teeth is her first novel, parts of which have appeared in Granta. Smith lives in North London.| n nEditorial Reviews n nBarnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers nSmith's debut has been described as precocious, and our volunteer readers eagerly anticipated the arrival of our reader's copies of this work. In fact, we had planned to highlight this amazing stew of a novel last season. But once we determined its May publication date, we decided that rather than promote a title a month in advance of its publication and frustrate readers who'd have to wait, we'd do so in July with our summer selections. One thing is clear: our claim of Zadie Smith as a great new writer is no longer a solo voice-she's since been mentioned in the same breath as Dickens and Rushdie, Proust, Hemingway and Forster (as in E.M.)! n nIn this remarkable novel set in postwar London, 24-year-old Smith has cleverly created an unlikely friendship between Archie Jones, a simple working-class Brit, and Samad Iqbal, a Muslim Bengali waiter in an Indian restaurant, who meet in the English army in WWII. After the war, the two commiserate over their lives and those of their children; their dreams, disappointments and expectations unfolding with riotous humor as the characters in both generations struggle to carve out their own cultural identities. As Samad himself says, ...you begin to give up the very idea of belonging. Suddenly, this thing, this belonging, it seems like some long, dirty lie. n nWhite Teeth is filled to bursting with all the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of London. Melding races and cultures with a near-perfect ear for dialogue and dialect, and weaving successfully (albeit uproariously) between themes of history, religion, faith and science, Zadie Smith's is a stunning, self-assured debut, and an unforgettable new voice in fiction. n- barnesandnoble.com n nSmith's debut novel is touted as a remarkable look at the immigrant's experience in a post colonial world. n- Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction n nThe scrambled, heterogeneous sprawl of mixed-race and immigrant family life in gritty London nearly overflows the bounds of this stunning, polymathic debut novel by 23-year-old British writer Smith. Traversing a broad swath of cultural territory with a perfect ear for the nuances of identity and social class, Smith harnesses provocative themes of science, technology, history and religion to her narrative. Hapless Archibald Jones fights alongside Bengali Muslim Samad Iqbal in the English army during WWII, and the two develop an unlikely bond that intensifies when Samad relocates to Archie's native London. Smith traces the trajectory of their friendship through marriage, parenthood and the shared disappointments of poverty and deflated dreams, widening the scope of her novel to include a cast of vibrant characters: Archie's beautiful Jamaican bride, Clara; Archie and Clara's introspective daughter, Irie; Samad's embittered wife, Alsana; and Alsana and Samad's twin sons, Millat and Magid. Torn between the pressures of his new country and the old religious traditions of his homeland, Samad sends Magid back to Bangladesh while keeping Millat in England. But Millat falls into delinquency and then religious extremism, as earnest Magid becomes an Anglophile with an interest in genetic engineering, a science that Samad and Millat repudiate. Smith contrasts Samad's faith in providence with Magid's desire to seize control of the future, involving all of her characters in a debate concerning past and present, determinism and accident. The tooth--half root, half protrusion--makes a perfect trope for the two families at the center of the narrative. A remarkable examination of the immigrant's experience in a postcolonial world, Smith's novel recalls the hyper-contemporary yet history-infused work of Rushdie, sharp-edged, fluorescent and many-faceted. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. n- Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly n nSmith has written an epic tale of two interconnected families. It begins with the suicide attempt of hapless, coin-flipping Archibald Jones on New Year's Day, 1975, and ends, after a 100-year ramble back and forth through time, on New Year's Eve, 1992, with his accidental (or preordained?) release of a poor mutant mouse programmed to do away with the randomness of creation. Smith evokes images of teeth throughout the novel. Do they symbolize some characteristic shared by all of humanity in this novel about ethnicity, class, belonging, homeland, family, adolescence, identity, blindness, and ignorance? Or are they meant to distract the reader from the all-encompassing theme of fate? Smith's characters are tossed about by decisions made deliberately, rashly, or by the flip of a coin. As Smith pieces together this story with bits of fabric from different times and places, the reader must contemplate whether our choices determine our future or whether fate leads us to an inevitable destiny. This fine first novel from Smith is most highly recommended for all libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/00.]--Rebecca A. Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. n n- Library Journal n nIt's a novel that nannounces the debut of a preternaturally ngifted new writer -- a writer who at the nage of 24 demonstrates both an ninstinctive storytelling talent and a fully nfashioned voice that's street-smart and nlearned, sassy and philosophical all at the nsame time. This, White Teeth nannounces, is someone who can do comedy, drama and satire, and do nthem all with exceptional confidence and brio...In what nwill surely rank as one of her generation's most precocious debuts, Ms. nSmith announces herself as a writer of remarkable powers, a writer nwhose talents prove commensurate with her ambitions. n-The New York Times n- Michiko Kakutani n n...as gut-busting and auspicious a debut novel as Pynchon's V... n-The Village Voice n- Tate n nReminiscent of both Salman Rushdie and John Irving, Teeth is a comic, canny, sprawling tale, adeptly held together by Smith's literary sleight of hand. n-Entertainment Weekly n- Daneet Steffens n nIn this multiracial novel of brilliantly hued setups and vivid dialogue what jumps out at you is not the politics of color but the colors themselves. n- The New Yorker n nA rich, ambitious, and often hilarious delight. n- The Independent n nThis is a strikingly clever and funny book with a passion for ideas, for language, and for the rich tragicomedy of life. . . . [Smith's] characters always ring true; it is her ebullient, simple prose and her generous understanding of human nature that make Zadie Smith's novel outstanding. It is not only great fun to read, but full of hope. n- Sunday Telegraph n nA writer of mighty potential. n- The Times Literary Supplement n nPoised and relentlessly funny. . . . A major new talent. n- The Guardian n nAt 24, Smith exhibits the best kind of literary audacity. White Teeth is a wild and generous ride, unstinting on comedy and electric with ideas. n-Talk Magazine n- Jana Heffernan n nSmith has much to say about threats to ethnic identity in the modern world, but her book's real strength lies in the way she says it. Her characters drawn with a commanding sense of detail, her writing style wonderfully sly and often downright funny, and her plot both rollicking and heartfelt, Smith makes a smashing debut on the literary scene. White Teeth just may be the first great novel of the new century. n- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review n- David Wiegand n nA PARADE BEST BOOK OF ALL TIME n nA preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that's street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time. --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times n nBrilliant.... Smith is a master at detail...a postmodern Charles Dickens...[Smith's] rich storytelling and wicked wit are suited to the sights and smells of the world that England has inherited. --The Washington Post n n[A] vibrant, rollicking first novel about race and idenity...[Smith's] prickly wit is affectionate and poignant. --People n n[A] dazzling intergenerational first novel...wonderfully inventive...playful yet unaffected, mongrel yet cohesive, profound yet funny, vernacular yet lyrical. --Los Angeles Times n n[A] marvel of a debut novel. . .Reminscent of both Salman Rushdie and John Irving, White Teeth is a comic, canny, sprawling tale, adeptly held together by Smith's literary sleight of hand. --Entertainment Weekly n nA magnificent and audacious novel, jampacked with memorable characters and challenging ideas. --The Atlanta Journal & Constitution n nAmbitious, earnest and irreverent. . . Smith has a real talent for comedy and a fond eye for human foibles. --The Wall Street Journal n nWonderful.... Zadie Smith...possesses a more than ordinary share of talent. --USA Today n nSmith has an astonishing intellect. She writes sharp dialogue for every age and race--and she's funny as hell. --Newsweek n n[White Teeth] is, like the London it portrays, a restless hybrid of voices, tones, and textures...with a raucous energy and confidence. --The New York Times Book Review n nFresh...spirited...this extravagant novel bursts with optimism about people, about language, and perhaps, above all, about novels and the joy, indeed the impertinence, of writing one. --The Philadelphia Inquirer n nBlissfully confident, wide-ranging and funny from the get-go, White Teeth...promises-and delivers-a wildly inventive journey into a fresh imagination. --Rocky Mountain News n nBrilliant.... Smith is a master at detail.... Like a postmodern Dickens, she has a flair for features, dress, dialogue, accents and human frailty. --The Miami Herald n nIt's a treat to watch an immensely gifted young writer performing, for the very first time, such an admirably audacious and ambitious juggling act. --Elle n nAbsolutely delicious.... Smith's voice is a perfect balance of tragedy and comedy. --The Tampa Tribune and Times n nGently observant and generous in its judgments.... Filled with vibrant life. --The San Diego Union--Tribune n nBrilliant.... Bubbles and pops in its imaginative intensity. --The Baltimore Sun n- From the Publisher n nThis first novel has been so universally praised that one fears for about two minutes that it must disappoint, but in truth Zadie Smith has the range and sense of humor of a postmodern Dickens. White Teeth is a saga of two London families. Archie Jones and Muslim immigrant Samard Iqbal, whose improbable friendship was forged during their service together in WWII, each marry much younger women in the same late year of their lives, and Samard's twin boys and Archie's half-Jamaican daughter grow up together. The number of characters, let alone accents, requires dazzling skill to perform--and prepare to be dazzled--as Jenny Sterlin works some kind of miracle with this wildly mad and impressive book. A marvelous audio experience. B.G. AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine n- AUG/SEP 02 - AudioFile