Salon@615-Zadie Smith with Ann Patchett

Salon@615 presents bestselling authors free to the public through a unique partnership between Nashville Public Library, Humanities Tennessee, Parnassus Books, BookPage and the Nashville Public Library Foundation. Together, we nurture and celebrate the literary life of Nashville by presenting author talks and book signings to our community.

[@jacklu1190]

Does anyone else feel smarter/wiser afterward just by listening to her talk?

[@lizziebkennedy7505]

Amen.

[@ianmartinezcassmeyer]

Ann Patchett isn't a journalist, and yet she can get these normally diffident people to speak their minds honestly. This is how you do an interview. You ask a straightforward question and you, the interviewer, shut up. And of course, Zadie is always a joy to listen to, brilliant as she is.

[@howardkoor2796]

Yes. I agree

[@rome8180]

Zadie Smith is just brilliant. I think I like her more as a literary and cultural thinker than I do as a novelist.

[@tandysolomon8285]

Camilla - What was the topic? I’d love to hear more.

[@myemailaccount3046]

yeah Camilla Palmer we want to know. What was your thesis on?

[@shttc900]

I would never subject my guests to chairs without armrests!

[@debcurreenauthor7985]

Great light hearted chat but so very informative. Good to finally hear Zadie talk about her life and books.

[@faustlacrimosa]

The moment at 30:30 is just so encouraging

[@henrymurray8810]

Always refreshing, honest, interesting, amusing, relaxing good banter.

[@CholaConCello]

Interviewer was tough to bear. Brava Zadie, for elegance and authenticity.

[@stevenlee2484]

1:01 Wonder if she's greeting Claudia Rankine... 🤔

[@noelsphinx3968]

The presenter is a class act

[@lizziebkennedy7505]

Ann Patchett - class writer, too.

[@deeproff1294]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍

[@khloe38]

which book are they discussing? i guess i could look it up but just wanted to be certain.

[@eszterszep9163]

Swing Time

[@tandysolomon8285]

And Ann's novel Commonwealth.

[@milojetkins]

and Kayla said, "I want to be a ninja, I want to be a ninja, I want to be a ninja, I want to be a ninja....

[@estherlewis9905]

3w

[@thomasbje3843]

"There is no gab between what you see on tv and the man". Barak Obama.

[@lizziebkennedy7505]

She just cuts to the chase of being black in these cultures. Permanent state of emergency. When will we get it?

[@suesheification]

I'm that silent girl that no one notices

[@ekirla1]

!!!!!

[@cs6078]

We live in a democracy, not an aristocracy.

[@lizziebkennedy7505]

Bwahahaha

[@notcosteffective9920]

Tell that to the corporations who own all these politicians

[@greatunborn]

I find Zadie Smith in the first few minutes of this interview insufferably superior towards a political culture not her own. She also exaggerates the difference in pay between that of a British prime minister (which is not a pittance) and the U.S. president.

[@jankafka7330]

"I find Zadie Smith in the first few minutes of this interview insufferably superior towards a political culture not her own." A phenomenon that is wholly indicative of perceptual and cognitive difficulties (perhaps bigotry/prejudice as well) on your part. The sort of thing you describe is nowhere to be found in the interview.

[@lizziebkennedy7505]

She's still lowballing arrogance compared to you. America is a nation of recent immigrants. Political culture, pfft- you mean theft and enslavement?