Zadie Smith reads at Borders in Boston

I was fortunate to catch Zadie Smith read from her new book "On Beauty" at Borders in Downtown Crossing. She looks just like in her pictures, feisty, strong-willed and even quirky; there is also great sensitiveness about her face...

I managed to ask her a White Teeth related question, as to why she seemed to skip from character to character so much: I mean, I can handle non-linear narrative, but she seemed to revel in chucking characters every so often to launch into the lives and minutiae of new ones...

Zadie was gracious enough in her reply, stating that "it was a weakness of hers, this rambling on, unrestrained" , but she defended herself in a manner by saying that that was her style as opposed to, say, a plainer, more conventional storyline.

When I went to get the book signed, she asked me where I was from, how long I had been here...and said she liked my name and maybe she'd "steal" it for her next novel. Sure, Zadie, go right ahead...

For being so sweet, I am holding back my review of her novel White Teeth: a rather scathing, angry review about that 400+ page book which appeared rather pointless to me when it had such potential to have been a great novel...


Yours truly with Zadie Smith!