{"id":1289,"date":"2016-04-20T19:39:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T14:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=1289"},"modified":"2020-04-04T21:36:21","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T16:06:21","slug":"book-review-autograph-man-zadie-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/book-review-autograph-man-zadie-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty something Alex Li-Tandem is an obsessed fan. He idolizes a Hollywood actress named Kitty. He desperately attempts to get in touch with her even in the middle of a personal disaster.<\/p>\n

Review<\/h3>\n

Alex Li-Tandem is a Chinese-Jewish man who makes a living out of collecting autographs, signed photographs and letters of celebrities. The story is set in the suburbs of Mountjoy, London where we see the Autograph Man (Alex) dividing everything in the world into Jewish and Goyish.<\/p>\n

The contrasting ease with which Alex is able to write heartfelt fan letters to his idol Kitty, for thirteen years, but is unable to communicate in an effective manner with his girlfriend Esther with whom he has had a ten year relationship forms the crux of the story. Zadie has done a brilliant narrative about celebrity obsession mingled with thoughts of love, death, religion and friendship. There are many symbolic references of obstructions (like Alex\u2019s rabbi friends asking him for help to fit a huge piece of furniture in a small car) which can be enjoyed in the literary sense. The plot tightens as Alex finds himself in possession of an autograph of Kitty whose authenticity he is unable to determine. At the same time, his personal life is in a mess with his relationship with Esther being complicated by his acquaintance with a girl named Boot and he finds himself questioning his friendships. The story is about Alex\u2019s journey to find himself, fulfill his dream of meeting Kitty and different perspectives on personal glory and selfless helping.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You have to put effort into reading this week; keep aside a few hours of reading and then push yourself to read a daily portion. I found the beginning portions extremely dry but the pace picked on from the middle, which was a relief. I do admit that I am fascinated by the concept of the book which is so original. It gives you an honest glimpse into the autograph market that stands on foundations of big money, agents and unrecognizable forged pieces. The book talks about Judaism, Goyishness and Zen Budhism, both the rational and the blind aspects which I found interesting.<\/p>\n

I feel Zadie Smith could have delivered a crisper story by cutting a hundred pages. Her writing is fresh and has no shadows of her previous works unlike many authors who establish their style of writing and tend to get repetitive. This would be a good choice if you want to try out some good writing in contemporary literature, but otherwise it\u2019s a big no-no.<\/p>\n

Rating :3\/5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty something Alex Li-Tandem is an obsessed fan. He idolizes a Hollywood actress named Kitty. He desperately attempts to get in touch with her even in the middle of a personal disaster. Review Alex Li-Tandem is a Chinese-Jewish man who makes a living out of collecting autographs, signed photographs and letters of celebrities. The story…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6307,16],"tags":[6369,431,87,77,104],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\nBook Review: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith | The Book Satchel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith is the story of an obsessed fan and his journey to meet his idol.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/book-review-autograph-man-zadie-smith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Review: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith\" \/>\n<meta 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