The Book of Other People

by Zadie Smith (Editor)

The Book of Other People is just that: a book of other people. Open its covers and you'll make a whole host of new acquaintances. Nick Hornby and Posy Simmonds present the ever-diverging writing life of Jamie Johnson; Hari Kunzru twitches open his net curtains to reveal the irrepressible Magda Mandela (at 4:30a.m., in her lime-green thong); Jonathan Safran Foer's Grandmother offers cookies to sweeten the tale of her heart scan; and Dave Eggers, George Saunders, David Mitchell, Colm Tóibín, A.M. Homes, Chris Ware and many more each have someone to introduce to you, too.

With an introduction by Zadie Smith and brand-new stories from over twenty of the best writers of their generation from both sides of the Atlantic, The Book of Other People is as dazzling and inventive as its authors, and as vivid and wide-ranging as its characters.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Essays, Contemporary, Literature, Fantasy

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Zadie Smith is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, White Teeth (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the Creative Writing faculty of New York University in September 2010.

Reviews

[Maxwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

From a simply statistical perspective, this one gets 2 stars from me. It's 23 stories, and after finishing them all, I can say there were only 7 that I really loved and would read again/recommend. They were:

1. "Judith Castle" by David Mitchell
2. "Frank" by A.L. Kennedy
3. "Lélé" by Edwidge Danticat
4. "Puppy" by George Saunders (which I think was a re-read for me)
5. "Rhoda" by Jonathan Safran Foer
6. "Soleil" by Vendela Vida
7. "Donal Webster" by Colm Tóibín

The rest weren't necessarily bad, but they were not particularly memorable. The collection's theme is character. Each author was tasked to write a story about a character, an assignment completely open to interpretation, which the story was then named after. I loved the concept, and these 7 were executed particularly well. Overall, a collection I'm still glad to have read because it introduced me to a few new authors to check out as well as showed me some obscure works by authors I already love.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to like this book. The concept is great - it's a collection of character sketches written by a host of terrific contemporary writers, brought together and sold to raise money for a children's arts charity in NYC. It's edited by Zadie Smith, who I love, and has stories by lots of writers for whom I eagerly await any new book they put out. BUT. This is just not a very good collection. Don't get me wrong, some of the character sketches were great and some were fun and some were thought provoking. The ones I liked were Jonathan Safran Foer, Dave Eggers, Heidi Julavits, Vendela Vida, Miranda July, AM Homes, George Saunders, Colm Tolbin, and Andrew Greer. This is admittedly not a short list, so maybe the book is worth picking up just for these. But the rest I really actively didn't like - many were pretentious, or confusing, or trying to hard - and they weren't fun to read, which in a collection can kill the better stories. All in all, though there are good pieces in this collection (and it might not be a bad way to discover some new writers), I was disappointed overall.

[Иванка Могилска · Rating 4 out of 5]

Тази книга я чаках с нетърпение, но нарочно я четох бавно. На ден - два по разказ с почивка между тях. Не исках в главата ми да става каша от образи, идеи, похвати, което винаги ми се случва, ако изгълтам бързо сборник с разкази. И не останах разочарована.

Интересно ми беше да сравнявам подходите на авторите, да човъркам кое как е направено и защо, как една история, раказана накратко, може да бъде извадена от битовизма, ежедневното, баналното и вдигната на по-високо ниво с няколко изречения. В този смисъл от всеки разказ научих по нещо. Някои ми станаха особено любими - "Леле", "Гидиън", "Лъжецът", разказът на Колъм Тойбин.

"Джудит Касъл" - ме впечатли наистина много. Към средата на разказа заподозрях развръзката; персонажи, които се разкриват по този начин и са в такъв чудовищен конфликт с реалността, съм срещала и в други произведения та възторгът ми от разказа не е заради обрата и изненадата. Джудит Касъл е много, много жива. Способна е да ти спечели симпатиите, да предизвика раздразнението, съжалението ти, да те накара да заподозреш, че е пълно куку, претенциозна и превзета, самотна, вятърничава, мечтателна, много свястна - палитрата е много богата като за няколко страници разказ. Искрено се забавлявах с онази част, в която хвърля рози от скалите в морето и се гледа отстрани и се опива от себе си. (Дали има човек, на който това да не му се е случвало?) Много точно е описано това състояние само с две - три изречения. Едното, от които беше нещо от сорта на "Мъката на тази жена е от друго измерение. Измерение, достойно за Мерил Стрийп." (Цитирам по памет, книгата не е с мен в момента.)

Разказът на Джонатан Сафран Фоер, чието заглавие на помня, но за сметка на това запомних текста почти наизуст от второ четене, също много ме изненада. Беше различен от очакванията ми, простичък, смешен, тъжен, достоверен, прекрасен. Финала му го повтарях 3 - 4 дни на всеки, независимо знае или не за какво става въпрос. Ако някой си търси монолог за кандидатстване за актьорско майсторство, непременно да го прочете.

Имам какво да кажа и за другите разкази, но ще стане доста дълго. Затова, обобщавам: интересна книга, която поне според мен заслужава внимателно, бавно четене и връщане към някои разкази.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zadie Smith propuso una idea a varios escritores: invéntate un personaje. El resultado, la presente antología, ’El libro de los otros’. También hay que reseñar que los fondos obtenidos con la publicación de este libro están destinados a 826 NYC, una ONG dedicada a perfeccionar las habilidades lectoras y escritoras de niños y jóvenes entre seis y dieciocho años. Pero dejando este punto aclarado, los relatos incluidos me han parecido bastante decepcionantes. Nombres de relumbrón, la mayoría, que no llegan al nivel de sus novelas, y es que me parece que muchos de ellos se mueven mejor en la distancia larga, o sea escribiendo novelas de más de 300 páginas, que en el relato, donde todo ha de estar más condensado y mejor ideado.

En una antología con veintiún relatos de veintiún escritores diferentes, es normal encontrarse de todo un poco, y lo cierto es que hay una gran variedad de estilos, hay humor, pero predomina la tristeza. Hay buenos relatos y otros verdaderamente infumables, por lo menos para mí. He aquí la lista completa:

Cachorro, George Saunders (**)
Judith Castle, David Mitchell (***) Judith se entera de la muerte de su amante, y actúa de una manera bastante especial. Buen relato con un estupendo final.
El embustero, Aleksandar Hemon (**)
Frank, A.L. Kennedy (***) Frank está en una sala de cine, solo, esperando a que se proyecte la película. Poco a poco se nos irá desvelando la razón del extraño comportamiento de Frank. Gran relato, todo un descubrimiento de esta autora a la cual no conocía.
Gideon, ZZ Packer (***) La protagonista nos cuenta cómo es su relación con su nuevo novio judío, Gideon. Otra autora que no conocía y que me ha sorprendido gratamente.
Gordon, Andrew O’Hagan (*)
Hanwell padre, Zadie Smith (**)
J. Johnson, Nick Hornby con ilustraciones de Posy Simmonds (*)
La jueza Gladys Parks-Schultz, Heidi Julavits (**)
Lélé, Edwidge Danticat (***) Lélé está embarazada, y esta historia está contada por su hermana. Muy buen relato. El principio genial: ”Aquel verano hacía tanto calor en Léogâne que la mayoría de la ranas explotaron”.
Magda Mandela, Hari Kunzru (**)
El monstruo, Toby Litt (*)
Nigora, Adam Thirlwell (**)
Rhoda, Jonathan Safran Foer (**)
Soleil, Vendela Vida (***) Soleil está de visita en casa de su amiga, donde la hija de once años, Gabrielle, se sentirá atraída por la manera de ser de Soleil. Muy buen relato.
Roy Spivey, Miranda July (***) La protagonista se encuentra durante un vuelo con el famoso Roy Spivey. Buen relato.
Cindy Stubenstock, A.M. Homes (*)
Theo, Dave Eggers (***) Relato fantántisco en el que unos gigantes dormidos cobran vida. Muy buen relato, teñido por la tristeza, quizás el mejor del libro.
Perkus Tooth, Jonathan Lethem (***) Pequeño extracto de lo que se convertiría en parte de la novela Chronic City. Buen relato y gran personaje.
Donal Webster, Colm Tóibín (*)
Newton Wicks, Andrew Sean Greer (*)

En resumen, me ha parecido una selección bastante mediocre para los nombres incluidos, pero al menos me ha valido para descubrir a algún autor que no conocía. Lo mejor, lo corto que es.

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 3 out of 5]

As other esteemed Goodreaders have opined, this anthology fails to deliver consistent excellence, despite the all-star cast.

The best contributions are from Hari Kunzru, Daniel Clowes, ZZ Packer, Chris Ware, Nick Hornby, Miranda July & Jonathan Lethem. These stories kept my arse welded to the chair, with zero distracted fidgety impatience.

The others are merely average: fragments, unfinished doodles or tossed-off oddities. Jonathan Safran Foer, hardly a prolific short story writer, seems to have mailed in a high-school piece.

Only two stories, by A.M. Homes & Colm Tóibín, are snoozy tripe.

I don't know what to suggest, really. It is for charity. I bought my copy in a charity shop, thus contributing to two charities simulatenously. Go me.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this engaging, funny story here. Bonus: it’s read by David Sedaris.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories to benefit some young writers' program in NYC. I was drawn to it because of the Charles Burns cover-art and because one of my favorite comic book artists, Daniel Clowes, did a short piece for this book (disappointing) as did C. Ware (writer/artist of Jimmy Corrigan.) Three of the stories are written comic/graphic style and the others are just regular non-illustrated short stories. The title of each story is the name of a person (or animal/creature) as each is a kind of character study. Many, but not all, of the writers are from the U.K. Overall, most of the stories sucked, especially after recently reading two superb collections of short stories by Kelly Link. Two notable exceptions were a story by A.L. Kennedy and one by Jonathan Lethem which were both extraordinary. I'm kind of glad I waded through the crap just to get to these two gems and plan on seeking out more by these authors.

[Magdalith]

23 opowiadania, wybrane przez Zadie Smith, autorów takich jak David Mitchell, Nick Hornby, Hari Kunzru, Miranda July czy George Saunders, a także samej Zadie. Nie oceniam zbioru, bo każdy tekst jest inny, niektóre podobały mi się bardzo, niektóre umiarkowanie, niektóre wcale, jednego nie skończyłam, a jednego absolutnie nie zrozumiałam. Kilka opowiadań naprawdę bardzo dobrych. Warto.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 1 out of 5]

A well known, upcoming writer, Zadie Smith, asks other writers to contribute a story each about a character:

The instruction is simple: make someone up. Each story is to be named after its character [...] there were no rules about gender, race or species

and proceeds from the sale of the book go to 826 New York "...a non-profit organization to support students aged eight to eighteen with creative and expositing skills [...] helping teachers inspire their students to writeI agree with the Goodreads reviewers who found the concept intriguing but the collection disappointing and most of the stories definitely underwhelming. Two of the stories are good -in my case- I liked David Mitchell cruel but funny Judith Castle and Heidi Julavits interesting variation on the instance of death life flashback Judge Gladys Parks-Schultz and two are excellent, Jonathan Lethem's memorable Perkus Tooth and Colm Tóibín's elegiac well-paced self-discovery Donal Webster. Almost there, were A. L. Kennedy's Frank and the rather raucous and over the top Magda Mandela by Hari Kunze.

Three graphic stories which I could not manage to make out on my e-reader are also included in the collection.

Two of the stories are awful, at least for anyone over, say ten, Dave Eggers' Theo, which were somehow reminiscent of some of Oscar Wilde's children's stories (e.g. The Selfish Giant), but much worse and Toby Litt's Monster which describes a Maurice Sendak monster but at its inarticulate and solipsistic worst.

This book is that it is supposed to be a collection to inspire eight to eighteen year olds to write. This is far too wide an age range in my opinion and may help explain why Eggers contributed Theo for example, aiming -perhaps- at the lower age bracket, while Tóibim's Donal Webster would appeal more towards the higher age bracket. So, if you are a teacher and hope to use stories from this book to kindle a "creative or expository" spark, I would suggest you select the stories very carefully -many of the stories can probably be used quite well to inspire an "aha, I can write like this..." moment while others will simply bring tears of boredom to their eyes.

[Raluca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anthologies are like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get. Some pieces will be your favourite combination of ingredients, others will start off promising but leave a bitter aftertaste, while yet others might even trigger your allergies.
And now that I've milked this second-hand metaphor for all it's got, I'll mention the pieces I did like. A.M. Homes's "Cindy Stubenstock" is charming in its description of high snobiety. Miranda July's "Roy Spivey" is a cute little "what could have been". Vendela Vida's "Soleil" uses a 11-year-old's eyes to see her mother's extroverted frenemy. David Mitchell's "Judith Castle" is cruelly funny. Colm Tóibín's "Donal Webster" is heart-breakingly realistic.
All the other ones either had potential that was lost along the way, had no potential at all or were too short and sketch-like to make any sort of potential evident. I even forgot most of them, despite finishing the book just yesterday. I was particularly disappointed by Jonathan Safran Foer's "Rhoda" and Zadie Smith's "Hanwell Snr.", which to me fell waaay short of my expectations from them. (Actually, in retrospect, my expectations of Smith had been slowly dropping anyway, since NW barely resonated with me at all.)
It wasn't a complete waste of time, but not far from it either. At least to me.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the concept of this - great author asks a bunch of other great authors to each contribute a fictional character sketch, leaving them to interpret that instruction however they wish, with proceeds going to charity - but while parts of it were excellent, most of it was hit-or-miss. I suspect different readers will enjoy different contributions, but for me, this was disappointing.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reading by David Sedaris is wonderful! (New Yorker Fiction Podcast)

[Marko8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great selection of stories and many of them I found fun, with objectively good writing and some of them my cup of tea.

Reading short stories from different authors is so much fun and I would recommend.

[Michael Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real nice stuff sprinkled throughout but most are forgettable. Big fan of the stories from AL Kennedy, Jonathan Lethem, Miranda July, and George Saunders.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mostly stellar collection of stories is made up of authors who were given one simple instruction: Make somebody up. It's a book of characters, a book of other people. I did only read half of the stories, but there's some serious good work over here by everyone I read.
First off, Charles Burns does the art on the front and back covers, and it's perfect. What's more, you get a hilariously depressing (what I think of as Clowes-ian) short comic about a film critic by Daniel Clowes, and a seriously, seriously A-game comic about the first 13 years of a child's life by Chris Ware. I could stop there and be satisfied. But you also get terrific stories by David Mitchell, Jonathan Safran-Foer, Dave Eggers, and ZZ Packer. I also gave Miranda July and Jonathan Lethem a go, since I hadn't read them before, and was pleasantly on-board with both. This book doesn't seem to have uniformly good reviews on Goodreads, so it could be that some of the rest of the stories I didn't read are clunkers, but I'm giving this a solid rating for some solid stories.

[Sarah Hall Steiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable and a good book for summertime when you have ten or fifteen minutes to read here and there. Lots of well-known contemporary authors write short stories -- some just a few pages -- each focusing on a character of their choosing. The whole collection is worth reading, but if I had to pick my three favorites, they would be: "Thor" by Dave Eggers (writing about a sad giant); "Roy Spivey" by Miranda July (about a woman who sits next to a heartthrob celebrity on a plane ride); and "Puppy" by George Saunders (told from the perspective of two mothers needing to salvage their families, one by giving a puppy away, and one by getting a new puppy).

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

there is something about short stories that make me feel like i’m reading in a language i’m unfamiliar with. i like it though.

my favourite was Lélé by Edwidge Danticat, the first sentence of which goes:

“It was so hot in Leogane that summer that most of the frogs exploded, scaring not just the children who once chased them into the river at dusk or the parents who hastily pried the threadbare carcasses from their fingers, but also my 39-year-old sister Lele, who was four months pregnant with her first child and feared that, should the temperature continue to rise, she too might burst.”

[Tattered Cover Book Store]

This is an anthology that collects the works of some of today's coolest authors. Jonathan Lethem, Chris Ware, Dave Eggers, Zadie Smith, A.M. Homes, David Mitchell, Jonathan Safran Foer, Nick Hornby, and Z.Z. Packer all made contributions. I especially liked Mitchell's and Saunder's contributions. I must say, the fact that this is a collection of character sketches rather than short stories is
incredibly intriguing to me. Oh. The proceeds from the sales will be donated to that literacy center that Eggers founded.

Amy H

[Lindsay Deacon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talk about an anthology of stories by snobby hipsters. The only thing truly wonderful in this book is the story by Chris Ware, but mostly they are stuffy overwrought pieces that fail to deliver.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this story.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Вчера привърших книгата и си помислих, че е много разнолика, че съдържа разкази, които са напълно различни, както по стил, така и по качество. Днес обаче се върнах назад и си припомних всеки разказ, което ме накара да осъзная, че почти няма разказ, който да не ми е харесал или да ми е направил впечатление по един или друг начин.

Разказите в "Книга за другите" наистина са различни и е трудно всеки от тях да е на едно и също ниво, но е наистина впечатляващо колко близки са в това отношение, което говори за добър подбор. Много от имената на авторите ми бяха непознати, но всъщност именно те често ме впечатляваха и ме караха да искам да узная още за тях. Трудно ми е да определя категорични фаворити, но разказите на Дейвид Мичъл, Едуидж Дантика, Джонатан Летъм, Вендела Вида, Дейв Егърс и А. Л. Кенеди излизат на преден план за мен. Към тях бих могла да прибавя още толкова имена, което сборно прави почти цялата книга.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judge a book by its cover? Or not?

I found this book will thrift shopping as its cover grapped my attention, i was like hey thats Charles Burns artwork on a regular book. When i flipped through i found out its an anthology book edited by Zadie Smith. The book of Other People are many short stories about, well people.. Characters to be exact. The instruction was easy, make up a character. Each short story is named after that made up character, and it does have some amazing writing talent in it. Dave Eggers, David Mitchell , Jonathan Safran Foer, Toby Lit, and Nick Hornby to name a few. It also got two amazing comic artists atached, and then i was like i have to bring this home with me, Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware both have a fantastic short story here, and i live for stuff like that. Books and comics combined, love it ! The Chris Ware is a really serious one aswell as you follow a Baby until he is 13 years old raised by a racist father. Racism is thought, your not born a racist. Powerfull stuff. Not every story was amazing, as with most anthologies, but this was a fun book.

[mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

el libro es bueno. lo que me pasó fue que, al ser una colección de relatos de distintos autores, algunos me gustaron mucho más que otros. le pondría las cinco estrellas a: el embustero, frank, el monstruo, theo y donal webster. pero como no puedo hacer eso, le doy tres estrellas a la totalidad del libro.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга за другите е многолика: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/k...

За мен в целия сборник, очаквано или не, се отличава Дейвид Мичъл (“Облакът атлас”, “Хилядите есени на Якоб де Зут”, “Слейд Хаус”) с чудесен трагикомичен разказ за жена, която най-сетне е открила мъжът на живота си и хич няма намерение да го пусне. Много добро впечатление ми направи и Джонатан Сафран Фоер (“Да ядеш животни”), който прави показно за къс разказ, в който се вмъква здравият разум на възрастта. Дейв Егърс (“Кръгът”) ме изненада с много добра фентъзи история за добри гиганти, които се надигат от хълмовете.

Всъщност сега, като си правя равносметка, виждам, че най-много са ми допаднали точно трима добре познати у нас автори, а тези, които не съм чувал, до голяма степен ме оставиха равнодушен. Ако все пак се дистанцирам от чисто емоционалния ми пиетет към тези автори, си мисля, че това е и комплимент за издателите у нас, които са направили верните избори сред морето от издавани на запад.

ICU - publishing, translation, scouting
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/k...

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed (read: temporarily stole) this book from my best friend's bookshelf, because I've been eager to read it since it came out. Finally I get around to it and it's pretty much just as I was expecting - great, obviously, but not perfect. It is a short story book, edited by Zadie Smith, on the behalf of Dave Eggers' non-profit organisation that helps children with their reading and writing. The premise was that each writer would pen a short story piece on a character, whose name would become the title of the piece.

It has some of my favourite writers in - David Mitchell (whose story, Judith Castle, is funny in the most cringy way possible and includes references that feature in his other novels), Miranda July (whose story Roy Spivey is brilliant and very typical of her writing), Toby Litt, George Saunders (not his best work though, by far) and Jonathan Safran Foer - alongside two graphic novel short stories by Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) and Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth), both of which I enjoyed more than I thought I would. It's also given me a few new people to hunt out, most notably Vendela Vida, whose story Soleil I particularly liked, and Andrew Sean Greer whose Newton Wicks is an incredibly memorable character. (Can't believe I just tagged all those names... phew.)

If you like contemporary short fiction, then this book is a great one to read, as it'll give you brief but satisfying glimpses into some of the best writers we have writing today.

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the literati club that is the Dave Eggers 826 empire comes this collection of short stories, written by authors for free to benefit 826 New York. The stories were written from the prompt that editor Zadie Smith basically describes as "create a character"-- and mixed results ensue. Smith's story, for example, is a mediocre effort about a father-son relationship that leaves much to be desired. Eggers goes mythical and writes about giants, while Vendela Vida, his wife, delivers straight up realism in the form of boozy weekends at Lake Tahoe. (Neither of their stories are among the best in the book.) Comic artists/graphic novelists Chirs Ware and Daniel Clowes contribute funny-yet-heart-wrenching strips that are a welcome break from the print... An very quick, addicting book if you can get over the smug self-congratulation of the Eggers cult which I pretty much cannot.

[Boyka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Приятна книга. Най-интересно за мен беше опознаването на нови автори, някои от които си казах, че трябва да намеря и прочета, други преоткрих или свързах с други точки в пространството.

Обединяващо и интересно ми се видя, че разказите не са толкова самостоятелни истории, колкото размисли или времеви епизоди - в по-малък обем са концентрирани повече пластове, някак. Харесах си може би най-много Джордж Сондърс, Адам Търлуел и Миранда Джулай, ще продължа с тях. Имаше и два разказа, които откровено прескочих (Джонатан Летъм, for God's sake), но това съм аз.

P.S> Дълбок респект за издателство ICU за всичко, което правят - от излъчването и превода на не толкова популярни или непознати в България работи, до прекрасните корици.

[Eugenie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I most liked the pieces in this collection that were real stories rather than fragments. Despite the impressive cast of writers, too many of the pieces felt like obligatory, though inventive, answers to a character sketch assignment for a writing class. And I think it was just a coincidence, but most of them are pretty bleak. If you read just one, let it be Dave Eggers' achingly beautiful "Theo," about a lovelorn giant. Miranda July, Vendela Vida, and George Saunders also contribute sharp, poignant tales that make it a worthwhile read.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written stories, but some are not all that memorable, or even interesting. I really enjoyed David Mitchell's (no surprise there), Edwidge Danticat's (very affecting, poignant and, though set in Haiti, one that I can relate to as far as place) and Colm Toibin's (definitely no surprise there either).

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories from an odd array of writers - picked it up and set it back down whenever I was done with a few each time. Nothing world shaking, but worth the time if you enjoy the people that were tapped to write for it (Zadie Smith being the draw for me, though most of the stories were fine enough.)