Book Review: On Beauty by Zadie Smith

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Everyone (who reads) typically has their own strong opinions about Zadie Smith’s best work to date. The majority scream WHITE TEETH, the minority, AUTOGRAPH MAN, never do they say ON BEAUTY. On Beauty is my pick because of Ms. Smith’s clever way of weaving complicated subjects like the politics, religion, fragility of adult relationships, sexual objectification of women by youth, beauty or color, the complexities of being bi-racial and of belonging in sub-cultures that create the characters’ identities (young vs. old, black vs. white, rich vs. poor, educated vs. street, religious vs. secular) as well as create conflict among the family. It’s a beautiful book with a clever storyline and the million witticisms we know to expect from the du jour Brit author and while the story is true to its soul and doesn’t climax frantically, the subject and characters stay in your mind long after you’ve put it down.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith