Kate Zambreno

"The Autograph Man" was supposed to be the British prodigy's small novel after the immensity of "White Teeth." It's difficult to imagine Smith writing anything but a huge work--so many ideas, characters and wonderful sentences are generously packed into her follow-up that any one page can start to read like Dave Eggers' footnotes and leave you feeling just as heady. Alex-Li Tandem is the titular philographer, a half-Chinese, half-Jewish Don Quixote living in a London suburb who internally divides life by goys versus Jews, an old Lenny Bruce schtick, and journeys to America to seek out his holy grail, the rare autograph of a forties actress named Kitty Alexander. As in "White Teeth," what makes Smith so equally frustrating and fun to read is her cocky self-aware prose style, scattering the pages with jokes, lists, kabbalah diagrams and non sequiturs galore.

Zadie Smith reads from "The Autograph Man" on July 23 at 6pm. Harold Washington Library, 400 South State, (312)747-4300.

(2003-07-16)

Also by Kate Zambreno

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What would happen if Alice were playing croquet with the Queen, and really thought that the "off with her heads" threat was more than just a bluff?
(2003-07-09)

Tip of the Week
High school disaffects storm into their cafeteria and selectively shoot down the elite, one by one, from the jocks to the goodie-two-shoes, turning the victims into heroes and the suburban community on its head. Sounds like the Trenchcoat Mafia, but this isn't Colorado, it's Canada, and the year is 1988.
(2003-07-09)

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We polled eleven promoters in Chicago to shed light on some tips to going out in style.
(2003-07-09)

Tip of the Week
For some reason, Joseph Epstein's "Fabulous Small Jews" reminds me of Dorothy Parker's short stories...
(2003-07-02)

Tip of the Week
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(2003-06-25)

It's ladies' night
(2003-06-25)

Tip of the Week
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Tip of the Week
(2003-06-18)

Ladies night
(2003-06-18)

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
(2003-06-18)

House warming
(2003-06-18)

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