On Beauty and Obsessions

Tue, 10/11/2005 - 9:14am by S.T. Augustine

I have a confession. I am prone to obsessions. One of the targets of this obsession is Zadie Smith. I had never heard of Zadie Smith until the release of her highly acclaimed novel White Teeth. I picked up this book because of the title. It's like someone out there knew about one of my other obsessions: teeth. After White Teeth, I looked around for other things by Smith and took to reading interviews. Then I got wind of The Autograph Man. This book wasn't as well-received as White Teeth, but I devoured it. I also picked up The Beacon Best of 2001 : Great Writing by Women and Men of all Colors and Cultures edited by Junot Diaz (and don't even get me started on him). For months, I have been waiting for On Beauty, Smith for months. Alas, it is here and receiving reviews closer to those of her debut.