very strange book. i started this in june maybe and finished it in august. what is all this about "the international gesture for ____"? not very likable characters and autograph forging and searching and kitty ? . the subjects below says humourous stories and picaresque literatire! ( )

The opening chapter of this is excellently written, and falsely compels you into believing that the rest of the story will be.
Unfortunately, about halfway in, I began to feel disappointed, and was in continued hope that the novel would improve. Unfortunately, the ending was very poorly written, leaving me feeling unsatisfied. It is a shame because I don't doubt the literary genius of Zadie Smith, however this is a novel that both me and my friend would recommend you avoid. ( )

The first half of this book is fantastic. The second half drags, but has flashes of brilliance. The obssesions of the autograph hunter were magnificent. I will admit that I enjoyed this book more than "White Teeth". If you collect anything this book will resonate with you. ( )

I listened to this one in the car. Zadie Smith is one of my favorite contemporary authors, and her storytelling is lush and vivid. [book:The Autograph Man] was a story about a young man in search of his identity through the stumbling search for religion and an illusive autograph. ( )

Liked it better than White Teeth, less than On Beauty. ( )

I did not enjoy this book very much. I didn't feel in touch with the characters and it just bored me. It's a shame because I'd really enjoyed White Teeth. ( )

This is a brilliant book by one of Britain's newest stars in the literary world. The plot and the characters described on the flyleaf of the book did not attract me in the least but I was quickly drawn into the wacky world of Alex-Li Tandem. Alex is an obsessive autograph collector, buying and selling for a living, but dreaming of the ultimate prize, the autograph of forties movie actress Kitty Alexander. His life is more or less chaos and this book is dreadfully funny as Alex resists the attempts of his well meaning friends, including his on and off girlfriend of 10 years to bring some stability and committment to his life. There is nevertheless action and adventure and many hilarious surprises. The book is a bit difficult to explain in a review because I can't think of any book to compare it with and it is hard to explain it's unique charm. I am hooked however and will be looking for her first novel, White Teeth and her newest book which has been published in the UK but won't reach North American bookstores till Sept 2008. ( )

I am sure for all of us there would be a book reading which would feel like we are reading our own life and its happenings; what we think, feel, and live etc. Well, this is my book. Was rather, it depicts a segment of my life almost biographically. ( )

Awful. Couldn't finish it. Gave up. Unlikeable characters. I couldn't figure out why I should be investing my time in reading about these dull, self-indulgent people. Clever kabballah themes also not interesting; just clever. Very disappointing after White Teeth, which I really enjoyed. ( )

I enjoyed Smith's writing style far more than I enjoyed the plot (which promised some things but delivered others) or the characters (who are neatly drawn, but on paper that is very thin indeed); but even the sometimes whimsical, sometimes nervy, sometimes delightful turns of her prose weren't enough to save The Autograph Man from being something of a disappointment.

It's more mature in some ways than White Teeth, darker, and I would imagine in many ways a reflection on Smith's part on the fame which she received thanks to her first novel—certainly, I think, that was the reason behind the emphasis on fame and multiculturalism in this novel. And yet a lot of it seems ephemeral, shallow: full of aphorisms which seem fake and showy in her characters' mouths; reflections and obsessions on Judaism that seem like they could only have come from someone who isn't Jewish; signs and symbols which mean nothing, an empty kind of moralism. Disappointing. ( )

*shaking head *
After the sheer brilliance of "White Teeth", possibly nothing Smith could have written would have matched up- yet, Autograph Man gives you the impression that she didn't even try. ( )

I can't decide whether I really liked this book or not. The main character is Alex Li-Tandem, an autograph hunter and seller, who is looking for an autograph from the elusive Kitty Alexander. I think he is really looking for something else in life. He is a quite a sad character, haunted by the death of his father. Despite this, it's sometimes hard to like him. ( )

Zadie Smith's sophomore effort, and not as good as her first or third novels, but a good book nonetheless. Smith writes about young, multi-ethnic Britons incredibly well and convincingly. Her craft is a bit more exposed here, so it's possible to follow the development of the plot without being overwhelmed by the characters, situation, and sheer writing pyrotechnics. I learned more about the craft of novel writing from this book that from White Teeth, even though the latter was more enjoyable. Read Zadie Smith! She's the real thing, a genius, a precocious new-comer, and she has a lot to teach the world about humanity. ( )

Didn't enjoy as much as White Teeth. The only part I found more than mildly interesting was the part in New York. Hoping for better from On Beauty. ( )

I very much enjoyed this book. It's a more intimate narrative than White Teeth, concerning a much smaller circle of charaters, and spanning a shorter time frame. The consequence is that the plot is not as rich as White Teeth, but in some ways this was as much an advantage as not. The interesting thing about Smith's books are they are all very different. (I didn't think much of On Beauty at all). ( )

Liked it better than White Teeth, less than On Beauty. ( )

An unusual novel about an autograph hunter, more fascinating than it sounds. The characters sre real, and memorable, the writting excellent. ( )

laugh out loud hilarity and witicisms. didn't get the rave reviews of "white teeth", can't imagine why not. ( )

Disappointing. I didn't finish reading it. ( )

The blurb states, ".... is a deeply funny, existential tour around the hollow things of modernity..." : perhaps it is too successful. This book is too 'clever' by half and three quarters but, scrape through the surface and there is nothing there. (What does the term "deeply funny" mean?: does humour have depth, or should it point out what we already, really know?)
I started with a certain empathy for Alex as he was forced to do things that neither he nor his family wanted by a dominating partner (been there, got the tee-shirt!) but, as the book progresses, it becomes more and more like a poor British re-write of one of those cosy American sit coms of which Channel Four seem so proud. The problem is, I suspect, that this book falls so neatly amidships of British and American humour that it sinks into the depths of the Atlantic - perhaps that is why the humour is 'deep'!
Not a book that I shall recommend to my friends. ( )