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White Teeth
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Lenny Henry, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Ray Panthaki, Arya Sagar
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
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White Teeth
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Publisher's Summary
Zadie Smith’s dazzling debut caught critics grasping for comparisons and deciding on everyone from Charles Dickens to Salman Rushdie to John Irving and Martin Amis. But the truth is that Zadie Smith’s voice is remarkably, fluently, and altogether wonderfully her own.
At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England’s irrevocable transformation. A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn’t quite match her name (Jamaican for “no problem”). Samad’s late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his bride to be born) produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal’s every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic faith. Set against London's racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence.
What the critics say
"Zadie Smith's fizzing first novel is about how we all got here - from the Caribbean, from the Indian subcontinent, from 13th place in a long-ago Olympic bicycle race - and about what 'here' turned out to be. It's an astonishingly assured debut, funny and serious, and the voice has real writerly idiosyncrasy. I was delighted by White Teeth and often impressed. It has...bite." (Salman Rushdie)
"A rich, ambitious, and often hilarious delight." (The Independent)
"This is a strikingly clever and funny book with a passion for ideas, for language, and for the rich tragicomedy of life.... [Smith's] characters always ring true; it is her ebullient, simple prose and her generous understanding of human nature that make Zadie Smith's novel outstanding. It is not only great fun to read, but full of hope." (Sunday Telegraph)
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What listeners say about White Teeth
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2021-11-07
Strong message but kept zoning out
I found the message of the story to be powerful and deep, but I tended to zone out quite frequently when listening. I had to frequently rewind to refresh what was trying to be told. The performance of the story was great, I think it was just the intricacy of the events that was making me zone out. Overall I think I may have liked the story better had I read it instead of listening to it so I could read and process slower.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jamie
- 2020-09-24
First Zadie Smith I've read. Won't be the last!
Don't know how I've missed such an amazing writer. Can't wait for the next read.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lisa R.
- 2022-09-15
Astonishingly good
One of the all time greatest books and most impressive narrative performances I’ve ever experienced. Cutting and hilariously witty. It doesn’t get any better than this.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrea
- 2020-01-16
All about the accents!
Especially the first two performers! The Jamaican accent for Clara, the Bangladeshi accent for Samad really added to the experience. It brought the characters to life in a way that wouldn’t have been possible were I reading it myself. I’d look for books by these performers again.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah Stewart
- 2022-03-15
STANDING OVATION
Absolutely one of the top performances I have ever heard. The story is captivating and brilliantly written.
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