This is my favourite Zadie Smith book including her novels.
I feel closer to her non-fiction, where she comfortably brings the qualities of her novels.
In this collection, there is a wide range of essays which are relatable, thought-provoking, intellectual or literary (or all at the same time).

This book kept me great company, and I cannot wait to read Smith’s next book.

Given that I had not then liked “The Fraud” all that much, this collection of essays reconciled me with my idea of Zadie Smith. The part I enjoyed the most was clearly the one on the Obituaries of some famous writers, on which I agree with most of Smith's opinions, although I have a huge gap to fill as far as Hilary Mantel is concerned. The couple of essays that refer to the pandemic however, always have the effect of a dystopia for me, as if I can't believe we survived that too....

Considerato che "The Fraud" non mi era poi piaciuto tantissimo, questa raccolta di saggi mi ha riconciliato con la mia idea di Zadie Smith. La parte che mi é piaciuta di piú é stata chiaramente quella sugli Obituaries di alcuni famosi scrittori, sui quali condivido la maggior parte delle opinioni della Smith, pur avendo una grandissima lacuna da colmare per quello che riguarda Hilary Mantel. Il paio di saggi che fanno riferimento alla pandemia comunque, mi fanno sempre l'effetto di una distopia, come se non riuscissi a crederci che siamo sopravvissuti anche a questo...

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Zadie Smith is a wonderful writer and a wonderful essayist. "Dead and Alive" is wide-ranging, thought provoking, and entertaining. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Dead and Alive is a new collection of essays by Zadie Smith. Smith writes on many topics including Celia Paul, Michael Jackson, Queen Elizabeth II, New York, being a writer and there are some memorial pieces on authors who have died such as Joan Didion, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, Martin Amis and Hilary Mantel.

This essay collection was truly phenomenal and I loved every second. Since finishing the essays I keep thinking about this collection as a whole and I feel so much towards it. This is a must read for anyone who likes reading essays/commentary. I loved reading the essays on mourning with the one on Joan Didion being a favourite. I also loved reading about the Egyptian novelist, Ahmed Naji. The commentary on phones and social media was particularly impactful and I just think this whole collection was so strong. Zadie Smith is not afraid to say what she believes in and I’m going to be thinking about this collection for a long time.

I really enjoyed Zadie Smiths novels and essays for many years. I’m always on the lookout for a new book from her because her writing is so beautiful, crisp, and informative Very much enjoyed this new collection of essays and I know readers will too!

I think we should be grateful that essay collections like Zadie Smith’s are still being published. They seem a slightly old-fashioned idea in the world of algorithms, which is one of the (negative) themes of the book. What would it take to give an essay collection 5 stars? To have been both engaged by her writing about things you already knew something about (the obituaries here) and intrigued by the essays about things that are new to you (e.g. the long essay on Celia Paul for me).. Both of these are true of Dead and Alive. She has a directness, a commitment and a lightness of touch that we should treasure.

Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith is a perceptive and wide-ranging essay collection which brings together her unique experiences and insights.

A comprehensive collection of fascinating essays concerning very diverse subjects, familiar and famous, and the more esoteric

<i><blockquote>I have also tried to leave these essays as wide open as possible... the house of an essay may sometimes be strangely shaped or have a complicated floor plan - but the door is open [...] Reader, I do not know your name - but you are welcome.

But I've learned to think of doubt as an asset. There are some uses to never being satisfied or extremely confident in yourself. You keep trying.</i></blockquote>

The ending to Smith's introduction quoted above about open doors seems deliberately pointed without being aggressive: these essays are, indeed, welcoming, not didactic, questioning without lacking point and opinion - but in a world that is increasingly hostile to 'others', to alternative views and opinions, it also feels like Smith is laying out her open-armed politics as well as introducing a hospitable book.

Collecting together essays, speeches, obituaries to writers (Toni Morrison, Martin Amis, Philip Roth, Hilary Mantel, Joan Didion) and articles, this is an incisive way in to the mind and world of Smith. The pieces seem to go back to 2019, include some pandemic pieces, and the latest is the hopeful piece written on 4 July 2024 - the date of the UK election. The subject matter is wonderfully eclectic from essays on visual art, women artists as muses, a defence of urban living, musings on history and the writing of [book:The Fraud|66086834] to political essays: the climate crisis, Gaza, Tufton Street, capitalism, and the vision of what the current Labour government seems to have forgotten it once stood for.

Through it all is a strong and individual voice and a clear sense of a mind that is still curious and fascinated by our world. Unashamedly left-wing, socialist and multicultural, what strikes me most is the lack of anger here and a narrative of community, vision, ethics and open-hearted humanity. I was a little disappointed in Smith's previous collection [book:Feel Free: Essays|35581653] which felt a bit constricted and unfinished to me - this one is exactly what I wanted from Smith.