On Beauty - Zadie Smith

On Beauty

By Zadie Smith

  • Release Date: 2005-09-13
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature
Score: 4
4
From 154 Ratings

Description

One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

Winner of the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction, another bestselling masterwork from the celebrated author of Swing Time and White Teeth

"In this sharp, engaging satire, beauty's only skin-deep, but funny cuts to the bone." —Kirkus Reviews


Having hit bestseller lists from the New York Times to the San Francisco Chronicle, this wise, hilarious novel reminds us why Zadie Smith has rocketed to literary stardom. On Beauty is the story of an interracial family living in the university town of Wellington, Massachusetts, whose misadventures in the culture wars—on both sides of the Atlantic—serve to skewer everything from family life to political correctness to the combustive collision between the personal and the political. Full of dead-on wit and relentlessly funny, this tour de force confirms Zadie Smith's reputation as a major literary talent.

Reviews

  • Beautifully written ... but what else?

    3
    By Kikigee
    I was really expecting more from the plot with this novel. The character development was there, yet each character was unlikeable and the “climax” of the book was at the end and was barely climactic at that. I was lead on by the positive reviews but the story was a bore to me.
  • Characters Beautifully created

    4
    By marjorie8888
    A study of people who think they know their direction. Excellently written.
  • On Beauty

    5
    By Golfcourse1234
    Wonderful book.I expected a less than lovely ending. This ending was no ending. Expected provocative but really had hoped for more.
  • On Beauty

    5
    By Coolrobb
    Zadie Smith is bona fide literary genius. Her descriptions are so vivid and easily perceived, you feel as though you're not only in the novel, but that the characters are right there next to you acting out their story lines. Her other two (White Teeth, Autograph Man) were every bit as endearing, but for some reason, neither is available on the exquisite IPAD yet. Best of luck with all future endeavors Zadie!