The author of White Teeth centers this novel on Britain’s relationship with immigrants from the British Commonwealth. The novel White Teeth focuses on the later lives of two wartime friends; Samad Iqbal and Archie Jones and their families in London. This novel immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards! In today’s post, I will reveal who is the British author of White Teeth including White Teeth themes.
Who Is The Author Of White Teeth?
The author of White Teeth is Zadie Smith who is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Zadie has been a tenured professor in the Creative Writing faculty of New York University since 2010. She completed this novel during her final year at the University of Cambridge. Before it was completed, her debut novel “White Teeth” was introduced to the publishing world in 1997.
You can keep on reading further to know more about the author of the novel White Teeth.
About The Author Of White Teeth
Smith, the author of White Teeth was born to Yvonne Bailey and Harvey Smith on 25 October 1975. She was born Sadie Smith but later changed her name to Zadie at the age of 14. The author’s mother Yvonne was Jamaican while her father was English. Unfortunately, her parents got divorced when she was a teenager.
The author also has a half-sister, a half-brother, and two younger brothers. As a child, Zadie was fond of tap dancing and often considered a career in musical theatre. She attended the local state schools Malorees Junior School and Hampstead Comprehensive School. Later, she attended King’s College Cambridge to study English literature.
At the university, Zadie earned money as a jazz singer and wanted to become a journalist. But in spite of being ambitious, literature emerged as her principal interest! She completed her graduation with upper second-class honors and also auditioned for the Cambridge Footlights. In fact, she also published several short stories in a collection of a new student writing “The Mays Anthology” at Cambridge. This attracted the attention of a publisher who ultimately offered her a contract for her first novel.
The author decided to contact a literary agent and returned to guest-edit the anthology in 2001. White Teeth was praised internationally and won a number of awards! This included the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Betty Trask Award. In fact, this novel was also adapted for television in 2002. White Teeth cast included Om Puri as Samad, Phil Davis as Archie, and others.
In 2000, Smith’s debut was the subject of discussion in a controversial essay of literary criticism entitled ‘Human, All Too Inhuman’. Here, James Wood critiques the novel as a contemporary genre of hysterical realism. The author responded to the criticism by agreeing with the accuracy of the term. But she rejected her debut being categorized by other authors such as David Foster Wallace, Salman Rushdie, and Don DeLillo.
Zadie Smith the author of White Teeth also served as writer-in-residence at the ICA in London. She met Nick Laird at the university and got married in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. The couple currently lives in Kilburn, London, and have two children.
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FAQ
Why Is The Novel Called White Teeth?
All teeth are white, and everyone is the same when it comes to teeth—we all have ’em. Meanwhile, White Teeth is populated by characters from different races and ethnicities and of different ages, who speak different languages and have very different ways at looking at the world.
Did White Teeth Win The Booker Prize?
Zadie Smith is a multi-award-winning author, who made a huge impact with her first novel, White Teeth. White Teeth won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award.
Why Is White Teeth A Good Book?
Hopscotching through several continents and 150 years of history, “White Teeth” encompasses a teeming family saga, a sly inquiry into race and identity and a tenderhearted satire on religious antagonism and cultural bemusement.
What Happens To Archie In White Teeth?
Not much happens for Archie during the war, but Samad sends him out to kill the Nazi doctor, Dr. Perret, after the war has ended. Archie returns minus the Doctor and plus a limp. After his first wife, Ophelia, divorces him, Archie tries to kill himself.
What Is The Author’s Tone In White Teeth?
Irony and Cynicism With a Side of Idiosyncrasy.
What Is The Message Of White Teeth By Zadie Smith?
Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, the back of my copy explains, is about “the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle”. A statement made all the more interesting in the 20 years since it came out; a book obsessed with the past, which has itself become a thing of the past.
What Is The Conclusion Of White Teeth?
White Teeth doesn’t have the kind of ending where all the loose ends are all tied up with pretty pink bows. In fact, in some ways, the story ends up right back to where started. The novel concludes with Archie and Samad—and their unlikely friendship. Only now, fifty years have passed.
What Happened To Ryan In White Teeth?
Clara and Ryan date briefly, but Hortense, Clara’s mother, manages to convert Ryan to the Jehovah’s Witnesses; he becomes a devout worshipper and attempts to “save” Clara after she leaves the religion. Later in the novel, he is revealed to have moved in with Hortense, serving as a kind of live-in aide to her.
Conclusion
In the above post, I’ve discussed White Teeth Zadie Smith’s life summary in detail. The author describes herself as unreligious despite not being raised in a religion. Zadie Smith’s debut novel White Smith instantly became a hit and also won several awards. The author of White Teeth also has been a tenured professor in the Creative Writing faculty of New York University.