"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
The story travels through Jamaica, Turkey, Bangladesh and India but ends up in a scrubby North London borough, home of the book's two unlikely heroes: prevaricating Archie Jones and intemperate Samad Iqbal. They met in the Second World War, as part of a "Buggered Battalion" and have been best friends ever since. Archie marries beautiful, buck-toothed Clara, who's on the run from her Jehovah's Witness mother, and they have a daughter, Irie. Samad marries stroppy Alsana and they have twin sons: "Children with first and last names on a direct collision course. Names that secrete within them mass exodus, cramped boats and planes, cold arrivals, medical checks."
Big questions demand boldly drawn characters. Zadie Smith's aren't heroic, just real: warm, funny, misguided and entirely familiar; reading their conversations is like eavesdropping. A simple scene, Alsana and Clara chatting about their pregnancies in the park: "A woman has to have the private things--a husband needn't be involved in body business, in a lady's ... parts."
Samad's rant about his sons--"They have both lost their way. Strayed so far from what I had intended for them. No doubt they will both marry white women called Sheila and put me in an early grave--acutely displays "the immigrant fears--dissolution, disappearance" but it also gets to the very heart of Samad.
White Teeth is a joy to read. It teems with life and exuberence and has enough cleverness and irreverent seriousness to give it bite. --Eithne Farry
"Wonderful.... Zadie Smith...possesses a more than ordinary share of talent."-"USA Today
""Smith has an astonishing intellect. She writes sharp dialogue for every age and race-- and she's funny as hell."-"Newsweek"
"
"İ"White Teeth"¨ "is, like the London it portrays, a restless hybrid of voices, tones, and textures...with a raucous energy and confidence."-"The New York Times Book Review
"
"Fresh...spirited...this extravagant novel bursts with optimism about people, aboutlanguage, and perhaps, above all, about novels and the joy, indeed the impertinence, of writing one."-"The Philadelphia Inquirer
"
"Blissfully confident, wide-ranging and funny from the get-go, White Teeth...promises-and delivers-a wildly inventive journey into a fresh imagination."-"Rocky Mountain News
"
"Brilliant.... Smith is a master at detail.... Like a postmodern Dickens, she has a flair for features, dress, dialogue, accents and human frailty."-"The Miami Herald
"
"It's a treat to watch an immensely gifted young writer performing, for the very first time, such an admirably audacious and ambitious juggling act."-"Elle
"
"Absolutely delicious.... Smith's voice is a perfect balance of tragedy and comedy."-"The Tampa Tribune and Times
""Gently observant and generous in its judgments.... Filled with vibrant life."-"The" "San Diego Union--Tribune
"
"Brilliant.... Bubbles and pops in its imaginative intensity."-"The Baltimore Sun
"
" A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that' s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time." - Michiko Kakutani, "The New York Times
"" Brilliant... . Smith is a master at detail... a postmodern Charles Dickens... [Smith's] rich storytelling and wicked wit are suited to the sights and smells of the world that England has inherited." - "The" "Washington Post
"
" [A] vibrant, rollicking first novel about race and idenity... [Smith's] prickly wit is affectionate and poignant." - "People"
" [A] dazzling intergenerational first novel... wonderfully inventive... playful yet unaffected, mongrel yet cohesive, profound yet funny, vernacular yet lyrical. " - "Los Angeles Times"
" [A] marvel of a debut novel. . .Reminscent of both Salman Rushdie and John Irving, White Teeth is a comic, canny, sprawling tale, adeptly held together by Smith's literary sleight of hand." - "Entertainment Weekly
"
" A magnificent and audacious novel, jampacked with memorable characters and challenging ideas." - "The" "Atlanta Journal & Constitution
"
" Ambitious, earnest and irreverent. . . Smith has a real talent for comedy and a fond eye for human foibles." - "The" "Wall Street Journal"
" Wonderful... . Zadie Smith... possesses a more than ordinary share of talent." - "USA Today
"" Smith has an astonishing intellect. She writes sharp dialogue for every age and race-- and she's funny as hell." - "Newsweek"
"
" ["White Teeth"]"is, like the London it portrays, a restless hybrid of voices, tones, and textures... with a raucous energy and confidence." - "The New York Times Book Review
"
" Fresh... spirited... this extravagant novel bursts with optimism about people, about language, and perhaps, above all, about novels and the joy, indeed the impertinence, of writing one." - "The Philadelphia Inquirer
"
" Blissfully confident, wide-ranging and funny from the get-go, White Teeth... promises- and delivers- a wildly inventive journey into a fresh imagination." - "Rocky Mountain News
"
" Brilliant... . Smith is a master at detail... . Like a postmodern Dickens, she has a flair for features, dress, dialogue, accents and human frailty." - "The Miami Herald
"
" It' s a treat to watch an immensely gifted young writer performing, for the very first time, such an admirably audacious and ambitious juggling act." - "Elle
"
" Absolutely delicious... . Smith' s voice is a perfect balance of tragedy and comedy." - "The Tampa Tribune and Times
"" Gently observant and generous in its judgments... . Filled with vibrant life." - "The" "San Diego Union-- Tribune
"
" Brilliant... . Bubbles and pops in its imaginative intensity." - "The Baltimore Sun
"
A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time. Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Brilliant . Smith is a master at detail a postmodern Charles Dickens [Smith's] rich storytelling and wicked wit are suited to the sights and smells of the world that England has inherited. The Washington Post
[A] vibrant, rollicking first novel about race and idenity [Smith's] prickly wit is affectionate and poignant. People
[A] dazzling intergenerational first novel wonderfully inventive playful yet unaffected, mongrel yet cohesive, profound yet funny, vernacular yet lyrical. Los Angeles Times
[A] marvel of a debut novel. . .Reminscent of both Salman Rushdie and John Irving, White Teeth is a comic, canny, sprawling tale, adeptly held together by Smith's literary sleight of hand. Entertainment Weekly
A magnificent and audacious novel, jampacked with memorable characters and challenging ideas. The Atlanta Journal & Constitution
"Ambitious, earnest and irreverent. . . Smith has a real talent for comedy and a fond eye for human foibles." The Wall Street Journal
Wonderful . Zadie Smith possesses a more than ordinary share of talent. USA Today
"Smith has an astonishing intellect. She writes sharp dialogue for every age and race and she's funny as hell. Newsweek
[White Teeth] is, like the London it portrays, a restless hybrid of voices, tones, and textures with a raucous energy and confidence. The New York Times Book Review
"Fresh spirited this extravagant novel bursts with optimism about people, about language, and perhaps, above all, about novels and the joy, indeed the impertinence, of writing one. The Philadelphia Inquirer
Blissfully confident, wide-ranging and funny from the get-go, White Teeth promises and delivers a wildly inventive journey into a fresh imagination. Rocky Mountain News
Brilliant . Smith is a master at detail . Like a postmodern Dickens, she has a flair for features, dress, dialogue, accents and human frailty. The Miami Herald
It s a treat to watch an immensely gifted young writer performing, for the very first time, such an admirably audacious and ambitious juggling act. Elle
Absolutely delicious . Smith s voice is a perfect balance of tragedy and comedy. The Tampa Tribune and Times
Gently observant and generous in its judgments . Filled with vibrant life. The San Diego Union Tribune
Brilliant . Bubbles and pops in its imaginative intensity. The Baltimore Sun
"
"A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that's street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time."-Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. On New Year's morning, 1975, Archie Jones sits in his car on a London road and waits for the exhaust fumes to fill his Cavalier Musketeer station wagon. Archie--working-class, ordinary, a failed marriage under his belt--is calling it quits, the deciding factor being the flip of a 20-pence coin. When the owner of a nearby halal butcher shop (annoyed that Archie's car is blocking his delivery area) comes out and bangs on the window, he gives Archie another chance at life and sets in motion this richly imagined, uproariously funny novel.Epic and intimate, hilarious and poignant, White Teeth is the story of two North London families--one headed by Archie, the other by Archie's best friend, a Muslim Bengali named Samad Iqbal. Pals since they served together in World War II, Archie and Samad are a decidedly unlikely pair. Plodding Archie is typical in every way until he marries Clara, a beautiful, toothless Jamaican woman half his age, and the couple have a daughter named Irie (the Jamaican word for "no problem"). Samad--devoutly Muslim, hopelessly "foreign"--weds the feisty and always suspicious Alsana in a prearranged union. They have twin sons named Millat and Magid, one a pot-smoking punk-cum-militant Muslim and the other an insufferable science nerd. The riotous and tortured histories of the Joneses and the Iqbals are fundamentally intertwined, capturing an empire's worth of cultural identity, history, and hope.Zadie Smith's dazzling first novel plays out its bounding, vibrant course in a Jamaican hair salon in North London, an Indian restaurant in Leicester Square, an Irish poolroom turned immigrant café, a liberal public school, a sleek science institute. A winning debut in every respect, White Teeth marks the arrival of a wondrously talented writer who takes on the big themes--faith, race, gender, history, and culture--and triumphs. Seller Inventory # DADAX0375501851