Awards
Orange Prize for Fiction
The Man Booker Prize (nominee)
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Orange Prize for Fiction
The Man Booker Prize (nominee)
Howard Belsey, a Rembrandt scholar who doesn't like Rembrandt, is an Englishman abroad and a long-suffering professor at Wellington, a liberal New England arts college. He has been married for thirty years to Kiki, an American woman who no longer resembles the sexy activist she once was. Their three children passionately pursue their own paths: Levi quests after authentic blackness, Zora believes that intellectuals can redeem everybody, and Jerome struggles to be a believer in a family of strict atheists. Faced with the oppressive enthusiasms of his children, Howard feels that the first two acts of his life are over and he has no clear plans for the finale. Or the encore.
Then Jerome, Howard's older son, falls for Victoria, the stunning daughter of the right-wing icon Monty Kipps, and the two families find themselves thrown together in a beautiful corner of America, enacting a cultural and personal war against the background of real wars that they barely register. An infidelity, a death, and a legacy set in motion a chain of events that sees all parties forced to examine the unarticulated assumptions which underpin their lives. How do you choose the work on which to spend your life? Why do you love the people you love? Do you really believe what you claim to? And what is the beautiful thing, and how far will you go to get it?
Set on both sides of the Atlantic, Zadie Smith's third novel is a brilliant analysis of family life, the institution of marriage, intersections of the personal and political, and an honest look at people's deceptions. It is also, as you might expect, very funny indeed.
Then Jerome, Howard's older son, falls for Victoria, the stunning daughter of the right-wing icon Monty Kipps, and the two families find themselves thrown together in a beautiful corner of America, enacting a cultural and personal war against the background of real wars that they barely register. An infidelity, a death, and a legacy set in motion a chain of events that sees all parties forced to examine the unarticulated assumptions which underpin their lives. How do you choose the work on which to spend your life? Why do you love the people you love? Do you really believe what you claim to? And what is the beautiful thing, and how far will you go to get it?
Set on both sides of the Atlantic, Zadie Smith's third novel is a brilliant analysis of family life, the institution of marriage, intersections of the personal and political, and an honest look at people's deceptions. It is also, as you might expect, very funny indeed.
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Used availability for Zadie Smith's On Beauty
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
February 2006 : Hardback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 078628319X / 9780786283194 (USA edition) Publisher: Thorndike Press Availability: Amazon UK Amazon Amazon CA |
September 2005 : Hardback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0141888334 / 9780141888330 (UK edition) Publisher: E-Penguin Availability: Amazon Amazon UK |
September 2005 : Hardback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0141888326 / 9780141888323 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Books Availability: Amazon UK Amazon |
September 2005 : Hardback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 1594200637 / 9781594200632 (USA edition) Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The Availability: Amazon Amazon CA Amazon UK |
June 2005 : Hardback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0241142938 / 9780241142936 (UK edition) Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd Availability: Amazon UK Amazon Amazon CA |
January 2005 : Hardback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0670045276 / 9780670045273 (USA, AU, or UK edition) Publisher: Viking Canada Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA |
2005 : Hardback
| Title: On Beauty [Signed First Printing] Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0141888318 / 9780141888316 (UK edition) Publisher: The Penguin Press Availability: Amazon Amazon UK |
Paperback Editions
July 2006 : Paperback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 014101945X / 9780141019451 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA |
September 2006 : Paperback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0143017632 / 9780143017639 (UK edition) Publisher: Availability: Amazon CA Amazon Amazon UK |
August 2006 : Paperback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0143037749 / 9780143037743 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Books Availability: Amazon Amazon CA Amazon UK |
May 2006 : Paperback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0141026669 / 9780141026664 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Availability: Amazon CA Amazon UK Amazon |
January 2005 : Paperback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0241142946 / 9780241142943 (UK edition) Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd Availability: Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon |
September 2005 : Paperback
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 1594200734 / 9781594200731 (USA edition) Publisher: Penguin Press Availability: Amazon UK |
Audio Editions
November 2005 : Audio CD
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0141806087 / 9780141806082 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA |
October 2005 : Audio Cassette
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0792737709 / 9780792737704 (USA edition) Publisher: Sound Library Availability: Amazon CA |
October 2005 : Audio CD
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0792737717 / 9780792737711 (USA edition) Publisher: Sound Library Availability: Amazon Amazon CA |
October 2005 : Audio CD
| Title: On Beauty (Courtney Novels) Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0792738403 / 9780792738404 (USA edition) Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon CA |
September 2005 : Audio CD
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: 0143058002 / 9780143058007 (UK edition) Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA |
Kindle Editions
September 2005 : Kindle edition
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: B000PC0SKU Publisher: Penguin Books Availability: Amazon UK Amazon |
July 2006 : Kindle edition
| Title: On Beauty Author(s):: Zadie Smith ISBN: B002RI9WLQ Publisher: Penguin Availability: Amazon UK |
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