The Autograph Man
A Novel
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The Autograph Man
Narrated by:
Ben Barnes
Buy Now for $28.53
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Narrated by:
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Ben Barnes
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By:
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Zadie Smith
But not everybody has to trade in them....
Alex-Li Tandem sells autographs. A small blip in a huge worldwide network of desire, his business is to hunt for names on paper, collect them, sell them, and occasionally fake them—all to give the people what they want: a little piece of Fame. But what does Alex want? Only the return of his father, the reinstatement of some kind of all-powerful, benevolent God-type figure, the end of religion, something for his headache, three different girls, infinite grace, and the rare autograph of forties movie actress Kitty Alexander. With fries.
The Autograph Manis a deeply funny existential tour around the hollow things of modernity: celebrity, cinema, and the ugly triumph of symbol over experience. Through London and then New York, searching for the only autograph that has ever mattered to him, Alex follows the paper trail while resisting the mystical lure of Kabbalah and Zen, and avoiding all collectors, con men, and interfering rabbis who would put themselves in his path. Pushing against the tide of his generation, Alex-Li is on his way to finding enlightenment, otherwise known as some part of himself that cannot be signed, celebrated, or sold.
Cover title lettering by Leanne Shapton.
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Critic Reviews
Praise for Zadie Smith and White Teeth
“[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
“White Teeth just may be the first great novel of the new century.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Dazzling...beguiling...wonderfully inventive...Smith is...a master of style whose prose is playful yet unaffected, mongrel yet cohesive, profound yet funny, vernacular yet lyrical.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Astonishing...Smith writes sharp dialogue for every age and race—and she’s funny as hell.”
—Newsweek
“A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that’s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time.”
—The New York Times
“[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
“White Teeth just may be the first great novel of the new century.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Dazzling...beguiling...wonderfully inventive...Smith is...a master of style whose prose is playful yet unaffected, mongrel yet cohesive, profound yet funny, vernacular yet lyrical.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Astonishing...Smith writes sharp dialogue for every age and race—and she’s funny as hell.”
—Newsweek
“A preternaturally gifted new writer [with] a voice that’s street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time.”
—The New York Times
No reviews yet
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