Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays

These are “occasional essays” in that they were written for particular occasions, particular editors.

I am especially grateful to Bob Silvers, David Remnick, Deborah Treisman, Cressida Leyshon, Lisa Allardice and Sarah Sands for suggesting I stray into film reviewing, obituaries, cub reporting, literary criticism and memoir.

Two thousand words about Christmas? About Katharine Hepburn? Kafka? Liberia? A hundred thousand words piled up that way.

Zadie Smith’s essays contain stimulating and cranky observations about writing, politics, high culture, pop culture, and even Katharine Hepburn.”

“With Changing My Mind, Smith has given the art of the essay its most interesting and educational revival in years.”
—Michael Lee, BookPage

a collection of criticism, essays, and reviews for outlets such as The New Yorker and the U.K.’s Guardian,

Her essays have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Believer.

These days “self-actualization” is the aim, and if you can’t do it alone you are admitting a weakness.