Smith, Zadie: *1975
On Beauty, 2005 - Information about the Book
- General Information
- The story shows an interracial family living in a university town, whose misadventures in the culture wars serve to penetrate everything from family life to political correctness to the combustive collision between the personal and the political. It is loosely based on Howards End by E. M. Forster.
- Information from Wikipedia
- Facts
Some of the most notable awards are:Orange Prize for Fiction in 2006
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction in 2006
The Commonwealth Writers' Best Book Award (Eurasia Section) in 2006
The novel was also selected by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2005
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- The Belsey Family
Howard Belsey: A white British art history professor at Wellington University who is an expert on Rembrandt. He is married to Kiki and has three children - Jerome, Zora, and Levi. Howard is an atheist and considers himself liberal, but has an affair with a colleague.Kiki Belsey: Howard's African-American wife. Kiki is a strong-willed woman who is hurt by Howard's infidelity. She befriends Monty Kipps's wife Carlene despite the rivalry between their families.
Jerome Belsey: The Belsey's eldest son who briefly works as an intern for the conservative Christian Kipps family, much to his father's dismay. Jerome later has a relationship with Victoria Kipps.
Zora Belsey: The Belsey's daughter who is passionate about academia and clashes with her father's views. She becomes friends with a poorer African-American man.
Levi Belsey: The youngest Belsey child who is interested in hip hop culture and befriends a poorer African-American man.
The Kipps Family
Monty Kipps: A conservative Trinidadian professor who is Howard's rival at Wellington University. Monty challenges Howard's liberal views.Carlene Kipps: Monty's wife who befriends Kiki. Carlene leaves a Haitian painting to Kiki in her will.
Victoria Kipps: Monty and Carlene's daughter who has relationships with both Jerome Belsey and Howard Belsey
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- Reader Rating:
- Articles
- Critique: "On Beauty confirms Zadie Smith as a writer of remarkable wit and originality". Stephanie Merritt. Guardian Unlimited; September 4, 2005
- Zadie, Take Three by Jessica Murphy and an interview. The Atlantic Monthly; September 16, 2005
- An Evening with Zadie Smith. Host: Georg Diez. SwissEduc. Zurich; October 2, 2006
- A Thing of Beauty?: "On Beauty, although imperfect, is teaming with energy, insight and ambition. Indeed, in many places it achieves an accomplished balance between the brilliantly comic and the more negative implications arising from characters that live solely for others". Andrew Hay, Balliol College