On Beauty

Smith is a master at depicting multi-racial families (something she knows all about, as she grew up in one).

Her narratives take up the complex nature of the relationships between parents, children, and siblings, while delving into issues of race, class, politics, infidelity, and self-knowledge. Smith is expert with her use of voice, as she composes character through idiosyncratic styles of language and expression.

Life in this novel is colorful and messy, as it cleverly investigates the impossibility of really knowing those closest to you.

My parents and I struggled to see eye-to-eye on a lot of things—like my American father’s racism and disdain for immigrants, even though my mother was Vietnamese.

My mother joined my father in insisting that I was white rather than multi-racial. Neither could stomach my sexual orientation and they frequently suggested I would inevitably contract AIDS. The mismatch of cultures in our household—from the southern United States to Vietnam, my progressive values pitted against their often backwards thinking—led me to Zadie Smith’s On Beauty.

She creates a rich mosaic of characters, including an erudite academic and atheist whose children include… show more.

On Beauty is such deliciously smart, domestic cinema, and the novel’s teenage boy, Levi, provides so much of the heat. Smith invites the reader to watch up-close while Levi’s mom supports his embrace of his Black identity and also his rage over systemic racism. The novel reminds us to pay attention! Pay attention! Do not look away from the teen boy for even a minute, or you’ll miss crucial pieces of information and risk losing the boy.