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Zadie Smith's second novel is a witty take on notions of celebrity and identity. The novel is centred around Alex Li-Tandem, a Chinese-Jewish North Londoner and an obsessive autograph hunter whose fixation leads him on an anarchic transatlantic caper. With smart observations about Jewishness, goyishness and Zen Buddhism, a sharp eye for detail and a wildly absurd plot, The Autograph Man is an ebullient and assured follow up to White Teeth. 'Be in no doubt that this is a genuinely funny and entertaining novel.' The Guardian

Management Teaching use: The text brings the question of celebrity to the foreground. Since a high proportion of today's marketing is based on celebrity endorsement, this is an extremely pertinent topic. The basic premise of the novel is that fame/celebrity is a commodity which consumers wish to purchase, with or without a product attached. In essence they are buying glamour by proxy. Class discussion might include such topics as the central importance of a product. Autographs are an excellent example of a product that has no intrinsic value in their rarity or associations.

Howard Belsey, a Rembrandt scholar who doesn't like Rembrandt, is an Englishman abroad and a long-suffering Professor at Wellington College. He has been married for 30 years to Kiki, an American woman who no longer resembles the sexy activist she once was. Their three children passionately pursue their own paths, and faced with the oppressive enthusiasms of his children, Howard feels that the first two acts of his life are over and he has no clear plans for the finale.Then Jerome, Howard's oldest son, falls for Victoria, the stunning daughter of the right-wing icon Monty Kipps. Increasingly, the two families find themselves thrown together in a beautiful corner of America, enacting a cultural and personal war against the background of real wars that they barely register...

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; Jonathan Safran Foer's Grandmother offers cookies to sweeten the tale of her heart scan; and Dave Eggers, George Saunders, David Mitchell, Colm Toibin, 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 20 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.