Customer Reviews

The book of Other People

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The premise behind this anthology is simple. A group of contemporary authors having fun, each contributing a short story about a fictional character, with proceeds going to a named charity - 826 New York. This charity is dedicated to helping children develop their creative and expository writing skills.

There are 23 contributing authors, from the United States, England, Ireland, Haiti and further afield, and the vastly different stories showcase their different styles of character development and description. Editor Zadie Smith is herself the author of three books, and also contributes a story for this anthology.

I thought that some of the stories were absolutely brilliant, but quite frankly, I didn't understand quite a few of them, and one or two were way beyond my limited comprehension skills. I have no doubt that fans of great literature will enjoy this book more than I did, but it's only fair that I warn the casual reader that it isn't always easy sailing.

The first story, "Judith Castle" by David Mitchell of the UK is by far my favorite - a tale of love and loss that certainly isn't all it appears to be at the beginning of the story. This one belongs in my "brilliant" category. There are also two stories done in graphic format, and some that aren't about human characters.

For the sake of simplicity, I list below the stories in two categories - "Stories for Everybody" and "Stories for the Literati"

Stories for Everybody:
1. Judith Castle, by David Mitchell
2. Justin M. Damiano, by Daniel Clowes
3. Gideon, by ZZ Packer
4. Hanwell Snr, by Zadie Smith
5. J. Johnson, by Nick Hornsby & Posy Simmonds
6. Lélé, by Edwidge Danticat
7. The Liar, by Aleksandar Hemon
8. Judge Gladys Parks-Schultz, by Heidi Julavits
9. Soliel, by Vendela Vida
10. Roy Spivey, by Miranda July
11. Cindy Stubenstock, by A. M. Homes
12. Theo, by Dave Eggers

Stories for the Literati:
1. Frank, by A.L. Kennedy
2. Gordon, by Andrew O'Hagan
3. Jordan Wellington Lint, by C. Ware
4. Magda Mandela, by Hari Kunzru
5. The Monster, by Toby Litt
6. Nigora, by Adam Thirlwell
7. Puppy, by George Saunders
8. Rhoda, by Jonathan Safran Foer
9. Perkus Tooth, by Jonathan Lethem
10. Donal Webster, by Colm Tóibín
11. Newton Wicks, by Andrew Sean Greer

I would recommend this book to students of literature, who will enjoy analyzing each author's method of character development, and to people far more literate than myself. I also applaud the editor for organizing this project for a good cause.



Amanda Richards, March 16, 2008

Quite an eclectic little collection from some of the who's-who in the literati scene these days. Sure, it's a little uneven, but that's to be expected in a compilation of works by such an almost-wacky variety of authors. Loved some stories, disliked others, was frankly baffled by a few as well. Will definitely seek out some of the contributors' other works. All in: good stuff.

The Book of Other People is a compilation of twenty four character sketches by a group of talented writers, some established, some up and coming. What originally drew me to this book was the fact that it was a Zadie Smith project; she had instructed each contributor to write a short story centered around a new character. It was a unique idea that offered endless possibilities. And that's what happened; The Book of Other People presents a snapshot of the diverse world we live in. There's everything from imaginative young boys to snotty rich women, from judges to voice actors. Not to mention the giant and the monster. There weren't any constraints on format (except, they were all put into the same font, Smith reveals in the introduction), so you have the occasional graphic short story, comic book strip and illustrations.

For me, the concept of the book was what really won me over. The stories themselves were decent, some better than others. "Puppy," by George Saunders, is a story about a dog that manages to bring together two opposite families, making you sympathize with both. David Mitchell's "Judith Castle" was an interesting take on how internet dating can become just plain sad. And Vendela Vida's "Soleil" gives you just a glimpse inside a love triangle that leaves you begging for more information. I was slightly disappointed with two of my favorite authors, Jonathan Safran Foer (again, another story about immigrants in America) and Nick Hornby (Posy Simmond's illustrations were good, though, just not the idea of an author progressing through life and constantly changing his image).

All in all this a interesting piece of literature, but don't except any sense of cohesion connecting the stories, or for them all to be of the same quality.

I'm not really a short story reader, but the concept of this collection caught my eye - Zadie Smith, in a bid to raise money for a disadvantaged youth writing program, asked a batch of writers to develop a short story with one simple parameter: make up a character.

The resulting collection is diverse and varied - but not necessarily in a good way. The short story collections I've enjoyed the most have had more of a unifying theme, while the rules here were perhaps a bit too loose to form any bond or attachment to the individual stories, let alone the book as a whole.

That being said, there are a handful of stories that I really quite enjoyed - about 1/3 of the book, some that I thought were pretty okay, and a few I just didn't really enjoy at all. The first story in the book, "Judith Castle" kicks things off nicely in perhaps one of the easiest reads of the entire book. There are a couple of graphic stories as well - "Jordan Wellington Lint" stuck out to me as the most interesting / telling, although perhaps not entirely unique to that one character. "Roy Spivey", "Soleil", and "Frank" were probably my three favourites, and "Puppy" is definitely the saddest in the book.

Overall I think this book had good intentions and interesting premise, but it didn't quite live up to its potential. If you're looking to discover some new others, or maybe read some standalone fiction from some of your existing favourite authors, than maybe pick this one up to get a sampler of today's literary fiction world. If you're just looking for a solid collection of short stories however, I'm not sure this is the book for you.

Zadie Smith commissioned twenty-three reputable writers (including herself) to each "make someone up." Their stories were named after their characters and compiled into this book, published and sold for the benefit of 826NYC, a non-profit that gets kids into writing. It's a good enough idea, but unfortunately, most of these stories are instantly forgettable.

Some of the authors I've found to excel at short-form character studies before (like Dan Clowes and Miranda July) don't disappoint, and others (like Nick Hornby and Jonathan Safran Foer) take a novel, economical approach to telling a simple and satisfying story. Many of the rest, though, have an oppressive, off-putting weight to them that's either gratuitously academic or unapologetically maudlin.

It's like the message to the kids at 826NYC is, "Work hard at your writing, and one day you too can make a successful career out of loss and regret!"

Zadie Smith has had two hits (White Teeth and On Beauty) and two misses (The Autograph Man) and this one. To be fair, she edited this and others provided the mostly unmemorable works. However, why Smith expects Hanwell to interest anyone but herself is beyond me.

This book was published in 2007 and collected 23 works by as many contemporary authors. The pieces were contributed for free to benefit the Brooklyn chapter of a nonprofit educational group co-founded by Dave Eggers. Nine had appeared earlier in other publications, mainly the New Yorker and the Guardian.

There were eight writers from the UK, 14 from the US, including Yugoslavian-born Aleksandar Hemon and Haitian-born Edwidge Danticat, and one from Ireland (Colm Tóibín). Eight of the authors were women.

The oldest were Tóibín (1955-), Nick Hornby (1957-) and George Saunders (1958-). The youngest were Zadie Smith (1975-), Jonathan Safran Foer (1977-) and Adam Thirlwell (1978-). Others included A. L. Kennedy, David Mitchell, A. M. Homes, Jonathan Lethem, Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida, Miranda July and ZZ Packer. Of the UK writers, all but Hornby had made it into Granta magazine's 2003 issue promoting the "best of young British novelists."

All but one or two of the pieces were short stories. Two contributions (by Americans Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware) were graphic art, and another (by Hornby) contained a few illustrations.

As the editor, Zadie Smith, said in her introduction, the most interesting thing was the variety of ways in which the writers created character. About half the works were written in the first person. A few focused on action, many emphasized recollection. Most enjoyed in this regard were Tóibín's piece in which an Irishman displaced in Texas described his mother's death, which had occurred some years earlier. There were feelings of grief, loss, hollowness and resignation ("There would be no time any more for anything to be explained or said. We had used up all our time"). Anyone who's experienced the loss of a parent is likely to find this story especially moving. Lethem's work, apparently an excerpt from the novel published later as Chronic City, introduced the free-associative world of the narrator's friend, an eccentric social critic in an atmospheric Manhattan neighborhood ("If I'm your brain you're in a whole lot of trouble ... you picked the wrong brain!").

The work by George Saunders, not clearly understood, was still interesting for its description of a woman's thoughts on love amid an atmosphere of vague menace, and for the author's ear for the way some people speak. The humorous piece by Nick Hornby -- a series of capsule biographies from an author's jacket copy -- showed the depressing arc of one writer's life, from promising debut as a young novelist to hackwork as an aging ghostwriter. David Mitchell's story shadowed the day of an unreliable, deluded narrator. In Miranda July's work, a narrator described a brief encounter with a celebrity, which seemed momentarily to offer an escape from mundane reality. The piece by Homes recounted the bored, superficial conversation of wealthy art collectors waiting for their private plane to take off.

Many of the other stories made less of an impression. They were too short (Hemon) or cryptic (O'Hagan, Litt, Thirlwell, Julavits, Eggers), faded to an ending that seemed weak, and/or had little to say that I could enjoy. The less interesting pieces have been described by another as "bright but empty," and this seemed apt.

Still, the book was worthwhile for a quick introduction to the styles of a number of younger contemporary writers. And it was far more entertaining than Granta #81: Best of Young British Novelists (2003).

The idea is good. "Make somebody up". Without limitations. And also, I found the editing also very helpful. If it could be published with the fonts the writers had sent to the editor, book would be more interesting. If you have limited time and your mind is full, read a short story, and especially from this book. It may be rejuvenating.

There's something for everyone in this wonderful collection. Most stories are just very enjoyable, while several are true standouts -- I found Judith Castle to be truly hilarious, and Lele to be truly poignant. Any further recommendation might just pre-prejudice anyone intending to dip into this wonderful book.

Did not like the book. Had to be familiar with England to understand the references and the text.


Would not recommend. Will not buy another Zadie Smith book.