You may know Zadie Smith as the virtuosic author of NW and White Teeth.
The best thing you can do is read her novels. The second best thing is to read her essays on anything.
She has a sense of humor about being a British writer.
She's wise to the perils of common sayings.
She knows minorities deserve more than "tolerance."
She interviewed Jay Z and knew his lyrics by heart.
She sparred with the most feared English book critic and won the debate with grace.
Zadie sent us dispatches from abroad —
— and from alien planets.
She refuses to be pigeonholed.
She refused the deification of Steve Jobs.
She distilled much from David Foster Wallace.
Most of all, she parses the simple sugar of hedonism from the deeper joys.
In sum: Read her fiction. Read her essays. Read everything she ever writes.
