Barbara Lane 2009-09-17

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Alex-Li Tandem, a Chinese-Jewish Autograph Dealer from Londonsearching for autographs leads him to an Autograph Concention. An underlying theme in the book are the autographs real or not?

Absolute great subject autograph collecting. I was really looking forward to hear this audio.

What a dissapointment!! Slightly disjointed and only improves right near the end.

The narrator Henry Goodman did a wonderful job.

Maybe only if you are REALLY interested in autograph collecting would I recommend this book.

Alan A. Elsner 2009-08-18

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Alex-Li Tandem wakes up one morning to find that he owns something
he's been obsessed with for years: the autograph of 50's film icon
Kitty Alexander. If he hadn't been on some unusually potent drugs the
night before, he'd swear his dreams had come true. As it is, most of
his friends figure he's finally snapped and forged the priceless
memento himself. So begins "The Autograph Man", Zadie Smith's followup
to her blockbuster first novel "White Teeth".

Smith is a fan of classic British comedy, and she's at her best with
scenes filled with eccentric characters who don't notice how crazily
they're acting. In one such, Alex runs into his obnoxious friend Rabbi
Rubinfine helping two other rabbis load a Georgian bookcase into the
trunk of a subcompact car. Rubinfine wants to pontificate about Alex's
spiritual problems; he also needs help with the bookcase. It's funny
to start off with, but becomes even better as the rabbis argue the
fine points of Rubinfine's lecture and practically beg Alex to sell
them Bette Davis' autograph.

There's a serious theme here as well; Alex-Li, half Chinese and half
Jewish, feels alienated from both cultures, and especially from the
memory of his father, for whom he still can't bring himself to say
Kaddish (the Jewish mourner's prayer). The autograph he longs for is a
symbol of his whole conflicted situation-- an authentic signature by a
fake Hollywood persona.

At times, though, Smith gets distracted by her own verbal
cleverness. Things get classified as Jewish (chocolate, John Lennon)
and Goyish (mocha lattes, Harrison Ford). Physical mannerisms become
"International Gestures", complete with spotter's guide entries: "the
throwing back of head, the slight indent of front teeth on lower lip,
the making of the sound 'pfui'." It is clever to start off with, but
too much of it makes the middle third of the book drag.

"Autograph Man" isn't as vibrant as "White Teeth" was, perhaps because
Alex and his slacker friends can't work up much suspense. But it's
certainly not bad-- most of the time it's amusing, and it earns its
way towards a satisfying conclusion that offers the possibility of
redemption without wrapping things up too neatly. Like a proper Jewish
god, Smith shows her characters both justice and mercy, putting their
faults on display, but managing to keep them likeable anyway. Readers
should do the same: "Autograph Man" has obvious flaws, but it's still
easy to enjoy. (Review by M.E)

E. Siegel 2008-09-24

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

As a huge Zadie Smith fan, I could kind of see where Smith was going with this book; however, I agree with most other posters that it fell far short of her other two novels. Smith obviously has an innate knack for language that puts her in a category with the best and the brightest. In this novel, that's as apparent as ever, and that's what keeps this novel from being utterly painful.

What was difficult for me about this novel was how unbelievably overdone it all felt. Indeed, elements of culture are fundamental in all of Smith's novels, but here, they're so much less original. The use of an acid trip as a device to propel the plot? Really? Kabbalism, a la Madonna and half of Hollywood around the time of the publication of this novel? I was less than impressed by Smith's choice of subject matter.

In addition, the cast of characters felt totally contrived to me. In On Beauty and, particularly, White Teeth, Smith's characters display a multiculturalism that is relevant and meaningful. In The Autograph Man, I kind of felt like Smith cut and pasted one representative of each marginalized subculture and tacked on a "hyphen-Jew," in a way that wasn't nearly as well-developed or plot-relevant as it could have been.

I highly recommend skipping this novel and going for Smith's other two. I'm thankful I read On Beauty before reading The Autograph Man, or I may have considered White Teeth a lucky first break for Smith.

Juviebetfixer 2008-08-22

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

This is the first Zadie Smith novel that I've read; and that may be unfortunate, as I'm not really in the mood to try another. Surely this is not her finest -- but the overall effect was so muddled, that I'd rather try something else.

The narrative framework of this novel appropriates philosophical systems from two traditions. The first half of the novel adopts the Kabbalistic tree of life, its ten sefirot or spheres. In case the too-obvious symbolism doesn't make an impact on you, Smith makes its patently simple by naming each chapter after each sefirah. If even that's too difficult, Smith provides several Kabbalistic diagrams, which look like they were photocopied from Madonna's notebook. Believe me, Smith's knowledge of Jewish philosophy is about as deep as the red-strings those Hollywood stars wear around their wrists.

The second half of the novel (highlighting the main character's Chineseness) derive its titles from the 'Riding the Bull' sketches, made famous in the west by beatnik Buddhists in the sixties. Following the same old mistake that Buddhism and 'Zen' are synonymous, our Chinese hero (who strangely uses Japanese vocabulary to discuss religion) learns to transcend self, with a lot of slapstick along the way.

The split-framework is intended to highlight the divided heritage of the Chinese-Jewish main character, whose hybrid background allows for endless quips and innuendoes about purity and providence in determining one's political/racial identity. On this theme, Smith is glib rather than insightful. This to me is the most disappointing part of the work: considering the heated debate about intermarriage in Jewish culture, and considering the authoritarian ways that Han Chinese maintain their ethnic dominance in China, and considering that mixed race is a natural, intriguing reality of human evolution . . . there's potential here for some really insightful studies about how collective identities aren't all they're supposed to be. Smith takes the easy route of the comedy of manners, however, and leaves little lasting and rewarding by doing so.

Secularists will no doubt delight at the many jokes made at religion's expense. I enjoy funny humour as well, even if it means taking down spiritual pretensions a few notches. But it's clear Smith's understanding of both Judaism and Chinese culture are woefully superficial. Call it the zeitgeist of the 21st century, but now people feel confident in appropriating thousand year old philosophies after a couple of Google searches. It's embarrassing gimcrack. Smith won't get into trouble for it . . . not many can be bothered to call her bluff, and mimicry now readily passes for authenticity . . . or maybe people just don't care anymore. Perhaps these novels seek to show that tradition is, really , fragmented to pieces -- and all that's left is us is to use the shards as punchlines. But I still think it's silly. I. B. Singer, who actually had a command of this stuff, brilliantly wove humour and piety together -- substantially and memorably. Smith's Judaism reads like a Seinfeld skit. The 'Zen' stuff reads the same way. Flimsy, fluttering, forgettable.

The comedy keeps coming, however. Our hero likes to collect autographs, and he enjoys sex, so you can see where that'll end up. Each autograph he collects links to an aspect of the Kabbalah. Again, if you weren't clever enough to detect that, Smith provides a handy chart on the inside cover so you can appreciate how brilliant the overall design is. And so he collects more autographs, and has more funny moments about his Chineseness, etc, etc. The missing crown of Kether relates to the dead father of the protagonist. It's easier to collect pen scratches of the famous than to connect to our flesh and blood. OH, I GET IT. THANKS.

NOTE: Three books which, in a far more informed and ingenious way, used puzzle-like structures to enhance plot mechanics:

Milorad Pavic: 'Landscape Painted with Tea': based on crossword puzzles.
Arturo Perez-Reverte: 'The Flanders Panel': based on a visual art piece as well as chess. BRILLIANTLY DONE.
Pearl Abraham: 'The Seventh Beggar': based on an allegory by R. Nachman of Breslov. Here, actually knowing a lot about the Jewish faith and its customs makes all the difference.

Compared to these works, this book read like a last-minute science project, put together in haste with minimal research.


As a final note of sincere caution, and some of you might know where I'm coming from on this: Smith liberally uses the Hebrew name of ha-Shem throughout this work in casual and haphazard ways. Don't take the book into the toilet with you, if you know what I mean. Most Jews won't raise a fuss about this rather cheap and lame experiment with Hebrew fonts; Smith can be grateful that she didn't riff on certain other religions, who get very upset if you use their sacred name for God so casually.

Sara Sage 2008-02-17

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Unfortunately I have to agree with those who have given a 1 star rating to Zadie Smith's sophomore product. I thought it might be my fault I didn't seem to enjoy this "genuinely funny and entertaining" book...alas! it's not me who is "guilty" here. I just fail to understand why promising authors as Zadie Smith and Monica Ali are such a flop in their second effort! I loved Smith's On Beauty, it must be the best of all three, and decided to fill the gaps by buying The Autograph Man, but it's indeed a torture to read as another reader has commented... I don't think I'll ever be able to get past p.77... What a waste of time!