Conversation and reading with Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith reads from her new work, Swing Time and is introduced by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
Zadie Smith’s new novel, Swing Time, is a dazzlingly energetic and deeply human story about friendship, music and stubborn roots. Her writing is “delightful, painful and spontaneously funny,” wrote Ella Taylor. “It reflects a lively, unselfconscious, rigorous, erudite and earnestly open mind that’s busy refining its view of life, literature and a great deal in between.”
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[@itsdavidmora]

What a creative giant of our day. Such a gift to read her work & hear her speak.

[@JeanRiki]

A treat to hear Zadie read from Swing Time which is a fave book that I only recently read. Such a compassionate, soulful, intelligent woman who has the gift of entertainment while also weaving in searing commentary that is never preachy it’s a powerful laying out of the inequalities and unfairness of life in heart wrenching relatable narratives. I can’t wait to read more of her work 💜

[@oblisk420]

this is one of the most beautiful introductions I had the benefit of experiencing and as another commenter have mentioned, it is a wonder to be made known of another writer with such eloquence and insight

[@Ada-tv7zl]

Liked almost all the books of Zadie Smith. But Swing Time just is astonishing. Love it!

[@henrymurray8810]

Zadie is an alluring, phenomenal yet amusing intellectual who found a nebulous nook that she could fold herself into comfortably and write her unique perspective on life with words that seem inevitably deja vu, or, meant to be just like that.

[@HomeAtLast501]

Please.

[@rv.9658]

Shut up

[@evelynwalsh6775]

What an astonishing reading-- wish Zadie Smith narrated the audiobook. Pitch perfect

[@deesplayworldtv]

15:09 The fact that she mentioned my favorite Garbage Pail Kid (Potty Scotty, the one on the toilet) just connected me with her on the highest of levels. So intelligent and is referencing something I would have never guessed she'd mention and talk about for a while. I loved my Garbage Pail Kids! Still have some:)

[@Jiminjiminj]

Such a cute intro with the funny speech !!

[@kinematrixgabriele3961]

ZS is grace incarnate and she's everything that's on beauty

[@rashmika9742]

I was cautious to buy Swing Time until I heard Zadie Smith read. Her voice and observations about childhood are striking. It's rare to find such books that are slightly mocking of children and have a sense of humour but are still empathetic and understanding.

[@Ada-tv7zl]

It's such a good book with all the insights in black culture and African culture. Absolutely loved it!

[@krishnabhatt3377]

Well said.

[@deesplayworldtv]

Was waiting to see if this was the essay where she referenced the Garbage Pail Kids...yep. Good stuff. I was a huge collector of those cards. I strangely connect to her because of the GPK references.

[@MrCamparisafari]

This book made me think of how unnatural schools are ! My own frustration and hate of school, it really made me run through those old emotions and dread feelimg of sunday night , saying that though im glad i grew up in the 80s , but wish id have been able to make it to grammar school, read this book , its great , wether you are cabbage patch or a garbage pail kid , my fave was the one with razer blades !! Hahaha loved those l, what a writer ! Loved nw too ,

[@lissabonwangerooge1660]

She is goofy and cute oh my oh my

[@krishnabhatt3377]

Lol.

[@ajs41]

I'm finding it difficult to work out what they're talking about at 50 mins 20 secs.

[@janetta98]

No, we did not love what Michael Jackson did to his face. It was really tragic, actually.

[@justinleemiller]

At 26:00 she mentions tap dancing going back to slave ships. It's not that old. It evolved along the Mississippi River Valley in the 19th century among African American and Irish stevedores. This is the world of Mark Twain and Edna Ferber novels.

[@HomeAtLast501]

I never met anyone who loved what Michael Jackson did to himself with plastic surgery. I don't believe she knew people who thought it looked better. Most people I've known thought he was very attractive and wondered WHY he destroyed his looks.

[@christinacascadilla4473]

I stopped at 42:00. Maybe I’ll get back to this. First of all, when I’m a famous writer, if someone goes on and on about how great I am in her class introduction of me, I’m walking. And I’m not learning anything valuable here. Is is the questions being asked? And there is no thread that I can hold on to here. It seems like a really disjointed talk.

[@HomeAtLast501]

7-minutte intro way too long.

[@HomeAtLast501]

Zadie needs to work on bringing some semblance of balance between background narration and action. This is way too much background narration without any action at all. She needs to learn to pace background narration and action --- to keep the reader's attention, and to provide a sense of advancing the story. This is ALL background narration. 14 minutes with no action. I don't have any semblance of what the bloody story is about after 14 minutes. She's lost me.

[@HomeAtLast501]

Nothing worse than listening to an author read her work.