The Autograph Man (original 2002; edition 2003)

by Zadie Smith

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3,023	41	4,528	(3.1)	1 / 81
Fiction. Literature. HTML:Alex-Li Tandem sells autographs. 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 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 trappings of modernity: celebrity, cinema, and the ugly triumph of symbol over experience. It offers further proof that Zadie Smith is one of the most staggeringly talented writers of her generation. Look for her new book Swing Time, coming November 2016. From the Trade Paperback edition.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	alanteder
Title:	The Autograph Man
Authors:	Zadie Smith
Info:	Penguin (2003), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 432 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
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Work Information

The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith (2002)

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Booker Prize (154)

Book Riot's 100 must-read works of Jewish Fiction (21)

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Man Booker Prize Longlist 2002 (19)

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	World Reading Circle: (M53'12) The Autograph Man, Zadie Smith	4 unread / 4	cedargrove, October 2012

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▾Member reviews

English (40) Swedish (1) All languages (41)

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Showing 1-5 of 40 (next | show all)

Tried to complete it, but, alas. Perhaps I'm not the ideal audience for this one, and so it ended up on the bottom of the book stack on my night stand.

Flashes of satisfying surprise in the writing were not enough to off-set the zero arch of the first three-fourths of the story. I got as far as page 287 and just didn't care enough to push through the last 50 . (

)

rebwaring | Aug 14, 2023 |

This book touches on so many things that resonate with me - the loss of a parent, what it means to be Jewish, how to be an adult, how to be a friend and a lover. Smith's storytelling carried me forward with its authentic emotion and dry humor. (

)

framberg | Feb 6, 2022 |

I got sick of the main character very fast, but then I was meant to be. Neither did I like the mocking tone of the story. It's just not my kind of book. (

)

Marietje.Halbertsma | Jan 9, 2022 |

I'd give this 3.5. I kept this novel to read last. It was still great. (

)

jaydenmccomiskie | Sep 27, 2021 |

3.5 ⭐️ (

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deannachapman | Sep 15, 2021 |

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▾Published reviews

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thingScore 25

Ms. Smith's latest novel, ''The Autograph Man,'' is similarly ambitious -- in this case tackling such sprawling themes as the consequences of fame, the hunger for religious faith, the tension between the symbolic and the mundane -- but it's a flat-footed, grudging performance. Dour where ''White Teeth'' was exuberant; abstract and pompous where ''White Teeth'' was brightly satiric; tight and preachy where ''White Teeth'' was expansive.

added by SimoneA | editNew York Times, Michiko Kakutani (Sep 25, 2002)

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Belongs to Publisher Series

Gallimard, Folio (4405)

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction (Shortlist – 2003)

Booker Prize (Longlist – 2002)

Wingate Literary Prize (Winner – Fiction – 2003)

Women's Prize for Fiction (Shortlist – 2003)

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Canonical title

The Autograph Man

Original title

The Authograph Man

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2002

People/Characters

Alex-Li Tandem

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Naturally things cannot in reality fit together the way the
evidence does in my letter; life is more than a Chines puzzle.

- Franz Kafka, Letter to His Father

I would always make believe that Clark Gable was my father.

- Marilyn Monroe

Dedication

To my amazing brothers Ben and Luke,
And for my friend Adam Andrusier, who knows funny

First words

He has the ability to imagine himself a minor incident in the lives of others.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

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Wikipedia in English (2)

File:AutographMan.jpg

The Autograph Man

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. HTML:Alex-Li Tandem sells autographs. 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 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 trappings of modernity: celebrity, cinema, and the ugly triumph of symbol over experience. It offers further proof that Zadie Smith is one of the most staggeringly talented writers of her generation. Look for her new book Swing Time, coming November 2016.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

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