On Beauty Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

On Beauty Book

In an author's note at the end of On Beauty, Zadie Smith writes: "My largest structural debt should be obvious to any E.M. Forster fan; suffice it to say he gave me a classy old frame, which I covered with new material as best I could." If it is true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Forster, perched on a cloud somewhere, should be all puffed up with pride. His disciple has taken Howards End, that marvelous tale of class difference, and upped the ante by adding race, politics, and gender. The end result is a story for the 21st century, told with a perfect ear for everything: gangsta street talk; academic posturing, both British and American; down-home black Floridian straight talk; and sassy, profane kids, both black and white. Howard Belsey is a middle-class white liberal Englishman teaching abroad at Wellington, a thinly disguised version of one of the Ivies. He is a Rembrandt scholar who can't finish his book and a recent adulterer whose marriage is now on the slippery slope to disaster. His wife, Kiki, a black Floridian, is a warm, generous, competent wife, mother, and medical worker. Their children are Jerome, disgusted by his father's behavior, Zora, Wellington sophomore firebrand feminist and Levi, eager to be taken for a "homey," complete with baggy pants, hoodies and the ever-present iPod. This family has no secrets--at least not for long. They talk about everything, appropriate to the occasion or not. And, there is plenty to talk about. The other half of the story is that of the Kipps family: Monty, stiff, wealthy ultra-conservative vocal Christian and Rembrandt scholar, whose book has been published. His wife Carlene is always slightly out of focus, and that's the way she wants it. She wafts over all proceedings, never really connecting with anyone. That seems to be endemic in the Kipps household. Son Michael is a bit of a Monty clone and daughter Victoria is not at all what Daddy thinks she is. Indeed, Forster's advice, "Only connect," is lost on this group. The two academics have long been rivals, detesting each other's politics and disagreeing about Rembrandt. They are thrown into further conflict when Jerome leaves Wellington to get away from the discovery of his father's affair, lands on the Kipps' doorstep, falls for Victoria and mistakes what he has going with her for love. Howard makes it worse by trying to fix it. Then, Kipps is granted a visiting professorship at Wellington and the whole family arrives in Massachusetts. From this raw material, Smith has fashioned a superb book, her best to date. She has interwoven class, race, and gender and taken everyone prisoner. Her even-handed renditions of liberal and/or conservative mouthings are insightful, often hilarious, and damning to all. She has a great time exposing everyone's clay feet. This author is a young woman cynical beyond her years, and we are all richer for it. --Valerie RyanRead More

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  • Amazon

    Set in New England mainly and London partly, this work concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps, and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some questions about what life does to love.

  • Play

    Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" is a funny powerful and moving story about love and family. Why do we fall in love with the people we do? Why do we visit our mistakes on our children? What makes life truly beautiful? Set in New England mainly and London partly "On Beauty" concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family. "The novel I didn't want to finish I was enjoying it so much". (John Sutherland "Evening Standard"). "Thrums with intellectual sass and know-how". ("Literary Review"). "Delightfully entertaining ...filled with humour generosity and contemporary sparkle". (Alex Clark "Daily Telegraph"). "My novel of the year ...Delicious". (Liz Jones "Evening Standard"). "Satirical wise and sexy". ("Washington Post"). "Heartstopping". ("The Times Literary Supplement"). "A triumph Smith's comedy shines". ("Daily Mail")."Ambitious hugely impressive beautifully observed". ("Guardian"). Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975. Her debut novel "White Teeth" won the Whitbread First Novel Award the Guardian First Book Award the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction and the Commonwealth Writers' First Book Prize and was included in TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Her second novel "On Beauty" was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has written two further novels "The Autograph Man" and "NW" a collection of essays "Changing My Mind" and also edited a short-story anthology "The Book of Other People".

  • Foyles

    Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2006 Light struck the double glass doors that led to the garden, filtering through the arch that split the kitchen. It rested softly upon the still life of Kiki at the breakfast table, motionless, reading. Why do we fall in love with the people we do? Why do we visit our mistakes on our children? What makes life truly beautiful? Set in New England mainly and London partly, On Beauty concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family. Zadie Smith's On Beauty is a funny, powerful and moving story about love and family and where we find beauty, in others and in ourselves. 'The novel I didn't want to finish, I was enjoying it so much' - John Sutherland, Evening Standard ‘Thrums with intellectual sass and know-how' - Literary Review 'Delightfully entertaining ...filled with humour, generosity and contemporary sparkle' - Alex Clark, Daily Telegraph 'My novel of the year ...Delicious' - Liz Jones, Evening Standard 'Satirical, wise and sexy' - Washington Post 'Heartstopping' - The Times Literary Supplement 'Ambitious, hugely impressive, beautifully observed' – The Guardian Bold, ambitious, challenging and quick-witted, Zadie Smith’s fiction has been a breath of fresh air since her astonishing debut White Teeth appeared in print in 2000. In 2003, she was included on Granta's list of 20 best young authors. Her other publications include The Autograph Man, NW, the essay collection Changing My Mind, The Embassy of Cambodia and Swing Time.

  • BookDepository

    On Beauty : Paperback : Penguin Books Ltd : 9780141019451 : 014101945X : 01 Jul 2007 : Why do we fall in love with the people we do? Why do we visit our mistakes on our children? What makes life truly beautiful? This is a story about a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love.

  • Penguin

    Howard Belsey, a Rembrandt scholar who doesn't like Rembrandt, is an Englishman abroad and a long-suffering Professor at Wellington College. He has been married for thirty years to Kiki, an American woman who no longer resembles the sexy activist she once was.

  • Blackwell

    Why do we fall in love with the people we do? Why do we visit our mistakes on our children? What makes life truly beautiful? This is a story about a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs.

  • 014101945X
  • 9780141019451
  • Zadie Smith
  • 6 July 2006
  • Penguin
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 464
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