Feel Free

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD, CRITICISM CATEGORYFINALIST FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAYA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKA VOGUE "What To Read This Spring" SELECTIONA PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2018" SELECTION“Brilliant. . . . [Smith’s] new book is lively, intelligent and frequently hilarious, and proves that she’s one of the brightest minds in English literature today. . . . [Smith] engages artists on their own terms; she’s opinionated, but not judgmental. And she manages to breathe new life into well-worn topics. . . . There’s not an essay in Feel Free that’s less than engrossing. Sure, Smith is extremely intelligent, but smart authors are a dime a dozen: More importantly, she’s an elegant writer, original, big-hearted and enthusiastic.” —NPR“Smith presses down hard as a cultural critic, and the rewards are outsize.” —The New York Times “It is exquisitely pleasurable to observe Smith thinking on the page.” —The New York Times Book Review“A vital literary voice.” —The Guardian“Containing previously published essays as well as new work, this collection—Zadie Smith’s second after the brilliant Changing My Mind—includes writing on everything from Brexit to dance lessons, the library to Justin Bieber, all delivered in the trademark wry, heartfelt, incisive style readers love from this beloved author and thinker.” —The Globe and Mail“Feel Free is joy—and ferocity, sharp wit, longing, even despair.” —The Boston Globe“Tremendous, enthralling. . . . Smith, in spite of her doubts about it, demonstrates authority.” —Los Angeles Times“Throughout this diverse collection, acclaimed novelist and essayist Zadie Smith examines the meanings of freedom in many forms. . . . Living in Smith’s thoughts . . . is liberating.” —Time“I found myself re-reading the brightest of [Smith’s] sentences over and again, marveling at her humor and her brevity. . . . This collection fulfills many of our needs with its culture-spanning subject matter.” —Associated Press “Smith’s ambivalent vision of freedom is attractive because it is generous, aesthetic, and joyfully irresponsible toward a politics of purity.” —Village Voice “[Smith is] on her way to being properly dubbed ‘prolific’.” —Entertainment Weekly“In a time of speedy, furious, extreme reactions, it’s a refreshing pleasure to read prose that is so thoughtful, measured and carefully constructed. Smith writes about culture and connection with a balanced mix of respect, curiosity and intimacy.” —The Pool“Feel Free . . . reveals the broad purview of the writer’s perceptive gaze. . . . Smith is an obvious genius . . . it feels like a privilege to momentarily see art and politics and much more through her eyes.” —Bustle“Concise and [i]ncisive, Feel Free is outstanding literary journalism, where Smith comfortably surveys both the personal and the political.” —Dhaka Tribune“Smith is among the most important writers in the world today, and her position as a post-colonial novelist and an advocate for multiculturalism (or ethnic pluralism) makes her writing exemplary. . . . [Smith] makes the unfamiliar leap that theorists avoid, but which a literary person welcomes: It is like bringing profound antagonisms together and ‘watching the fun’.” —Firstpost“Earnest, funny, enthusiastic and original.” —The Spectator “Thought-provoking, it’s full of relatable comments that force you [to] think about what it means to be a global citizen.” —Fashion Quarterly“[Smith] is a great communicator of joy.” —Irish Times“Feel Free is a shepherd’s pie of nonfiction whose only through line is a writer unafraid of getting lost, because she always knows the way home.” —Vulture“Curious, humble, and wise, Smith reminds her readers once again that her nonfiction is just as powerful as her fiction.” —The Harvard Crimson“Smith’s second collection of essays brims with a wide-ranging enthusiasm. . . . The stakes are high for cultural consumers, she argues, especially if what we value is diversity. She’s comfortable diving into controversy to make that point.” —USA Today “Smith is free to focus her incisive and often wry lens on painting, novels, dance, history, technology, Mark Zuckerberg, Jay-Z, race, love, and the nature of joy itself. But make no mistake—these pieces are as relevant as can be. They are reminders of how much else there is to ponder in this world, how much else is worth our time, and how lucky we are to have Smith as our guide.” —Vanity Fair“Made up of both published and never-before-seen essays, Feel Free blends high and low culture in the way that only Zadie Smith can.” —Vogue“Iconic White Teeth and Swing Time author Smith trains her elegant critical eye on culture, politics, and herself in this essential collection.” —Harper’s Bazaar“New writing by Zadie Smith is always a cause for celebration. In this collection of essays, she considers what it means to be a global, literary, and digital citizen, with her typical unassuming candor and seemingly casual brilliance.” —Elle “A gifted essayist as well as a novelist.” —Publishers Weekly “A must-read.” —Signature “Beyond doubt, [Smith] has joined . . . the category of ‘classic English essayist’—in the vein of Hazlitt and Orwell, Virginia Woolf and Angela Carter.” —Financial Times “Zadie Smith’s second collection of essays is a treat for the mind and soul.” —The List “Each piece demonstrates Smith’s brilliance, humour and compassion.” —Elle (UK)“The author is honest, often impassioned, always sober. . . . She is never less than a formidable intellect, with an imposing command of literary and artistic canons.” —Kirkus Reviews “I found myself re-reading the brightest of these sentences over and again, marveling at her humor and her brevity.” —The Washington Post“Smith stuns once again with this collection of previously unpublished essays that discuss social media, public spaces, global issues, and more.” —Medium“No matter the subject, we’re always excited to hear what this ever brilliant writer thinks about it, because it makes us think too.” —Southern Living“Zadie Smith is as good an essayist as she is a novelist, so Feel Free promises to be a challenge and a delight.” —The Scotsman“Zadie Smith is so eager to entertain she’ll undercut a meditation on Joni Mitchell, Wordsworth, Seneca and Kierkegaard with a sausage roll gag. But you can’t just sprawl around being entertained—your participation is demanded too!” —Evening Standard“[Feel Free] will challenge us with critical cultural questions that are relevant and timely, and continue on Smith’s legacy as a significant and moving force in today’s cultural and political climate.” —Culture Vultures“Zadie Smith’s is that rare mind which hops, skips and jumps across pop culture, politics, race, fashion, gender and literature with equal nimbleness.” —Livemint “A generous volume that shares the breadth and depth of this thoughtful writer’s curiosity…. Smith is not only a penetrating and candid writer, she is also embrac­ing. Reading these pieces can feel like a pleasant dinner conversation with a smart, open-minded friend.” —BookPage “In glowing and remarkable prose, Zadie Smith argues out the world we live in. Her approach is fierce and lucid, nuanced and definitive, witty and deeply serious, joyful and hopeful and honest. This book is a tonic that will help the reader reengage with life.” —Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree and The Noonday Demon“One of the best writers of our time.” —Epeak World News“I love Smith’s ecstatic, leaping brain, and I count on her new essay collection to keep me in wise company.” —Real Simple “Zadie Smith’s new collection is characteristically brilliant. . . . Moving and packed with insightful observations, Smith’s latest collection has allowed her to shine on the bookshelves once again.” —Hong Kong Tatler“[Feel Free] is a thoughtful exploration of motherhood, politics, literature, art, pop culture and there’s no way NOT to learn something from it.” —Lisa Lucas, former Executive Director of the National Book Foundation“[Feel Free] feels blazing and whole, with the inward gravitational tug of a star. . . . Zadie Smith is a better witness of the world than almost anyone else alive, and that no matter where she takes her mind, her mind, not the subject it’s addressing, is what remains most powerful there.” —Charles Finch, National Book Critics Circle