Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays Book

A sparkling collection of Zadie Smith's nonfiction over the past decade.

The Barnes & Noble Review

As the decade winds down and best-ofs are published, one of the least controversial names on literary lists is Zadie Smith's. Her White Teeth (2000) was an instant landmark, a novel of multicultural London at once accomplished and authentically youthful, fresh. Its structure, its improbable ending, mattered less than its startling new voice. Smith, however, repaid the hype surrounding this debut with novels of more deliberate construction, for example paying homage to E. M. Forster in her third novel, On Beauty. But this attitude -- at once studious and brilliantly presumptive -- has seen the best results in her criticism. As a still-young writer, Smith isn't afraid to ask big questions. And as a famous novelist, she isn't afraid to answer them. It is even whispered in some corners that Zadie Smith may become not a great novelist but a great critic.