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White Teeth: A Novel
Zadie Smith. Knopf: 2001 (paperback). ISBN:0375703861. 464 pages.
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About the Author
A page of detailed biographical information on Zadie Smith, including excerpts from interviews in which Smith interprets her own work.
The story of Zadie Smith’s rise to fame and fortune as a writer is as interesting and unusual a tale as White Teeth, itself. Check out this section to read all about it.
All in the Family
A synopsis of the literary traditions and genres with which White Teeth is affiliated and a brief explanation of these connections, giving your book group the opportunity to understand Smith’s novel in a larger literary perspective.
Smith’s novel borrows from a wide variety of literary forerunners, from as far back as Don Quixote to as modern day as the work of Salman Rushdie. Go to this section to learn how these diverse literary traditions bisect and connect in Smith’s work.
Character Tree
A list of major characters and their dominant characteristics and values, showing characters’ relationships to each other.
You’ll be needing this section to keep track of and refresh your memory about the enormous number of colorful characters who compose the cast of this big, complex novel. We didn’t want to overburden you, so we stuck to describing on the sixty most important.
Streams of Themes
A breakdown of potential major discussion themes in White Teeth, including ways these themes are interconnected.
Archie Jones reaches for a coin whenever he’s faced with a tough decision. His mother-in-law, Hortense Bowden, reaches for the most recent issue of the Jehovah’s Witnesses journal. His best friend, Samad Iqbal, falls back on the British expression “Can’t say fairer than that” for consolation. In this section, you’ll discover how each of these character’s philosophical leanings intersect and combine with those of the many other important people who make up this book, and how these competing philosophies work together in forming the novel’s major themes.
Talk Back to the Critics
Excerpts of some major critical reviews of White Teeth from authoritative journals, newspapers, and magazines. We encourage your book group to enjoy the opportunity to argue with expert opinion.
Most critics agree that this is a pretty impressive literary debut by the then-twenty-three-year-old Zadie Smith (We have to agree: twenty-thee and she can write like this!) But many found some major bones to pick with Smith’s portrayal of life in post-post-colonial England. Find out what these bones were by flipping to this section.
Doorways to Discussion
A chronologically and thematically organized list of discussion questions, which function to explore, in a logical and thoughtful manner, the questions and possibilities that Smith’s novel evokes.
Think back and consider this novel’s many sets of frustrated parents and disgruntled children. Which, if any, of the parents, seem to have their kids’ best interests at heart? Which, if any, of the kids seem to find a productive way to assert their own needs? Move to this section to consider a list of fifty-three other thought-provoking questions.
Taste Test
A selection of other books on subjects similar to those in White Teeth to consider for future book group meetings or for private reading.
Want to read another clever book that makes you laugh as well as think? Or another absorbing novel that focuses on the complexities of family? Turn to this section for a healthy variety of suggestions.
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