If you’re looking to read some Zadie Smith then I’d recommend you steer clear of this one... It pains me to say it, as Smith’s other four novels are all absolute delights, but unfortunately I found this one very tedious - But you can all rest assured that I recommend White Teeth, Swing Time, On Beauty and NW heartily!
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Usually Smith’s novels are bursting with life and vibrancy, there’s a great sprawling cast of characters and she turns her sharp eye to dissecting society... in The Autograph Man, there’s a man. Who trades and sells autographs. It’s very much centred on Alex-Li’s life, without any further exploration of wider society which Smith does so well.
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I’m often all for novels that are character-driven, even if the main character is unlikeable, that’s fine by me as long as they’re interesting. Unfortunately, again, Alex-Li is neither likeable nor very interesting. It feels like blasphemy writing this review, as I count Zadie Smith among my favourite authors, but this just did not do it for me at all!
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A slight saving grace were the supporting characters, who very much were just there to provide some background to Alex-Li, if there’d been more focus on them it would have made for a slightly better story.