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mikelchartier's review
4.0
Less a star because she made me google lyrics to a song instead of reprinting. I didn't buy the hard cover to have them go cheap on me. Props on lower-casing the google verb, tho.
sujuv's review against another edition
4.0
Zadie Smith employs her brilliant mind and humanistic heart to write about a whole load of different things and kept me interested the whole time. Some of it made me search out artists I'd never heard of (Lynette Yiadom-Boakye), some of it made me want to re-read old favorites (The Buddha of Suburbia), some of it made me want to go see places I haven't been (Villa Borghese in Rome), and all of it made me feel a little better about the world. Maybe just because Smith is in it!
becca_g_powell's review against another edition
5.0
Zadie Smith is a true genius and it is electric just to be in her writerly presence, literally regardless of the subject matter. She can write about art I’ve never heard of, or don’t like, or a beer advertisement, in thrilling ways. You sort of feel like you’re in the presence of a particularly brilliant friend (who in real life would find you dull). I disagree with plenty she says (among other things, she’s a bit of a technophobe and I think she draws a little too much existential angst out of the existence of iPhones, for example). But it’s still a joy to read.
obsessivelybookishjojo's review against another edition
3.0
My favorite essays in this book are the ones on library, Brexit, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, and Justin Bieber (philosophical). Zadie Smith is so prolific and I am so artistically illiterate that some of her essays go above my head, as I’m ignorant of the references. Hence, the stars here are more of a reflection of the reader rather than the book or the author.
ruthlemon08's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this essay collection but I have to admit that some of them were too confusing and philosophical for me to engage with. A reflection on me rather than ZS but I did find that some of her ideas and the theories she talked about weren’t relatable. But again, it’s my problem, not hers. I love her writing and her humour throughout
koreilly's review against another edition
3.0
What does it mean to listen to an audiobook. From the moment you've started the audiobook, you've listened to it but is it when you've only made it to the end that you've truly listened to the audiobook. What does it mean when you need something to listen to for the long drive to and from St Louis so you pick up a collection of essays by an author you've read a few times in the New Yorker and liked.
How does the space you inhabit change and fluctuate with the strange earthy reading provided by the audiobook. How does it affect you when their take on Brexit is terribly dull and neoliberal while their take on libraries is stunning and beutiful. What does it mean when you've spent over an hour of your life listening to someone pontificate on how they didn't like Joni Mitchell and now they do? What can Kierkegaard tell us about podcasts [insert long diatribe about philosophy].
What does it mean when you didn't listen to all of a book but you liked it anyway and you just want to knock it off on your Goodreads and write a review parodying the author. How does that help the reality and space you inhabit and the ways our selves are projected onto the internet. In what way is the real Kyle anymore authentic than the Goodreads Kyle?
Okay, I'm done now. This book is pretty good if a bit pretentious at times. Some of the essays are obviously better than others and full disclosure I haven't finished it and probably won't (it's long). Good for long drives though.
How does the space you inhabit change and fluctuate with the strange earthy reading provided by the audiobook. How does it affect you when their take on Brexit is terribly dull and neoliberal while their take on libraries is stunning and beutiful. What does it mean when you've spent over an hour of your life listening to someone pontificate on how they didn't like Joni Mitchell and now they do? What can Kierkegaard tell us about podcasts [insert long diatribe about philosophy].
What does it mean when you didn't listen to all of a book but you liked it anyway and you just want to knock it off on your Goodreads and write a review parodying the author. How does that help the reality and space you inhabit and the ways our selves are projected onto the internet. In what way is the real Kyle anymore authentic than the Goodreads Kyle?
Okay, I'm done now. This book is pretty good if a bit pretentious at times. Some of the essays are obviously better than others and full disclosure I haven't finished it and probably won't (it's long). Good for long drives though.