Dead and Alive

Smith gives a masterclass in the modern essay. In Dead and Alive, Zadie Smith once again confirms that she is among the most expert essayists of her generation … Even when she writs about death, disillusionment, or the absurdity of fame, “protect your consciousness,” she advises, and this book feels like an act of protection in itself – an argument for stillness, attention, and moral imagination in a distracted world. Smith has written a generous, fiercely intelligent collection that reminds us why essays matter. They keep us awake, alive, and, in Smith’s words, “just human enough to hope” * Evening Standard *
It’s not often that I find myself getting genuinely excited for the release of an essay collection, but I make an exception for Zadie Smith. Much as I love her novels, her criticism and non-fiction have always had the edge for me. I always come away from reading her essays feeling as though she’s managed to articulate something I’ve been mulling in the back of my mind for a while. Simultaneously, she manages to turn all my assumptions upside down – and isn’t that exactly what reading should do? Dead and Alive is a real dazzler, jumping effortlessly between subjects as disparate as the Cate Blanchett movie Tar, the work of Hilary Mantel, Stormzy’s Glastonbury set, and Smith’s beloved hometown of Kilburn. Buy it for that friend who’s intimidatingly culturally literate, and await their nod of approval * Independent *
Capricious, mischievous, curious … she is a vivid and rigorous thinker, her best pieces here radiant with curiosity, and a serious but not self-serious grappling with the terror and anxiety of modern life – Megan Nolan * Observer *
Filled with Smith’s crisp observations, Dead and Alive is a smart, sombre book … There’s pleasure in watching a novelist wired to see all sides at once wrangle with her own dynamic subjectivity; what’s compelling is the effort of eliciting in herself the most honest possible take … Writing criticism –offering an opinion, putting one’s skin in the game – is a form of stewardship to the commons, of showing up to that imperilled space in which Cultural Luminaries might decide to join students in speaking out against injustice, however imperfectly, because they feel an ethical imperative to do so. In Dead and Alive, Smith reminds us that this place still exists, even as its lights flicker and dim * The New York Times *
Dead and Alive showcases a writer whose curiosity remained undimmed. She effortlessly transitions from art critique to musings on politics, grief and pop culture * The Mirror *
Acute and entertaining … Fascinated to Presume: In Defence of Fiction is a nuanced take on the thorny issue of representation in fiction … These essays sketch out the ideas and critiques that inform Smith’s novels. They are a delicious peek behind the scenes of a great writer at work – or at play * The Times *
Zadie Smith’s nonfiction has a particular shine. She makes it look easy. Her sentences read as though she is talking to us. And her clarity seems to be of a piece with her ethics: that no reader should ever be locked out of her argument … she is always persuasive and her voice – shaded with optimism and wit – is always a delight * Times Literary Supplement *
Smith is as fine an essayist as she is a novelist. Her latest collection on culture, art and public life proves that few writers can frame the present moment with such clarity – and few can so carefully balance intellectual acuity with playfulness * i Paper, ‘The 14 best non-fiction books of 2025’ *
Zadie Smith – a great novelist, but real heads know it’s non-fiction where she shines best. Her essays, with their piercing analyses and omnivorous subject matter (one throws Justin Bieber together with the philosopher Martin Buber), are some of the finest modern examples of the form. Smith’s latest collection, Dead and Alive, has a great premise, combining eulogies to the dead (Joan Didion, Martin Amis, Hilary Mantel, etc) with odes to everyone and everything that’s full of life * GQ, ‘The best books of 2025’ *
The Queen of Brit Lit returns with a collection of essays … always thought-provoking and brilliant, this is your go-to book for gifting * Stylist *

Zadie Smith is the author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW, Swing Time and The Fraud; as well as a novella, The Embassy of Cambodia; four collections of essays, Changing My Mind, Feel Free, Intimations and Dead and Alive; a collection of short stories, Grand Union; and the play, The Wife of Willesden, adapted from Chaucer. She is also the editor of The Book of Other People. Zadie Smith was born in north-west London, where she still lives.

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