Feel Free: Essays

Review

A writer so insistent on the possibility of imaginative connection, so generous and curious with regard to her readers (Evening Standard)

Refreshingly insightful on any number of topics, from Martin Buber to Justin Bieber...Reviewing a book by her countryman Geoff Dyer, [Smith] writes that she is most struck by 'his tone. Its simplicity, its classlessness, its accessibility and yet its erudition-the combination is a trick few British writers ever pull off.' Without question, Smith is one of them (TIME Magazine)

Brims with a wide-ranging enthusiasm...[Smith's] open-mindedness gives the whole of Feel Free a lively, game-for-anything spirit...Enchanting (USA Today)

Fascinating stuff! (Love It!)

Charmingly digressive...Smith sets an unpretentious tone...As the pages pass, there's a palpable absence of self-certainty. In its place are ample reserves of curiosity and empathy (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

The joy of this collection is Smith's straightforward phrasing, often summing up her thesis with a single thoughtful sentence. Her words are not overwritten; they do not distract from her purpose, nor are they a barrier to her argument; they are welcoming. I found myself re-reading the brightest of these sentences over and again, marveling at her humor and her brevity (Associated Press)

The strongest essays showcase Smith's skills as an art, literary and cultural critic...One of the pleasures of reading Feel Free is in savoring Smith's joy when she writes about formative cultural experiences. As with any book of opinions, Feel Free makes claims one might dispute...But a collection of essays that doesn't prompt disagreements would be a dull book, and Feel Free is anything but dull (Houston Chronicle)

Getting In and Out' is the kind of essay that sheds light on a whole career, and it would justify this collection even if Feel Free didn't include a handful of more perfectly crafted pieces of prose (Chicago Tribune)

For years, [Smith] has been one of the most important literary journalists we have. This is why (Buffalo News)

Smith writes [ . . . ] with such infectious zeal and engaging accessibility that it makes you want to turn up at her house and demand tutoring (Dazed and Confused)

About the Author

Zadie Smith is the author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW and Swing Time, as well as a novella, The Embassy of Cambodia, and a collection of essays, Changing My Mind, and editor of The Book of Other People. Zadie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002, and was listed as one of Granta's 20 Best Young British Novelists in 2003 and again in 2013. White Teeth won multiple awards including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award. On Beauty was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction, and NW was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Zadie Smith is currently a tenured professor of fiction at New York University and a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.