Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith

Dead and Alive by Zadie SmithAn illuminating new essay collection from one of the most distinctive, exciting and acclaimed writers of her generation, Zadie SmithZadie Smith is a wonderful essayist. She is a natural. She writes as she thinks, and she thinks crisply and exactly Tessa Hadley, GuardianIn this keenly awaited new collection, Zadie Smith brings her unique skills as an essayist to bear on a range of subjects which have captured her attention in recent years. She takes an

’ and Mark Twain floats his rebellious heroes on a raft to freedom

the ways in which neither maps exactly onto the other

chapter heads

Two thousand years ago

from the playful to the wistful

Discover how the player who was released by Chelsea's youth academy didn't let that get in the way of his dreams

' Paromjit Hayers – 5*'I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed

With fantastical narratives

Guardian best recent poetry

he finds a policeman unconscious on the floor

the Hoe and scattered throughout the city

and previously unseen diaries and memoranda from courtiers