White Teeth: A NovelOn New Year's morning, 1975, Archie Jones sits in his car on a London road and waits for the exhaust fumes to fill his Cavalier Musketeer station wagon. Archie--working-class, ordinary, a failed marriage under his belt--is calling it quits, the deciding factor being the flip of a 20-pence coin. When the owner of a nearby halal butcher shop (annoyed that Archie's car is blocking his delivery area) comes out and bangs on the window, he gives Archie another chance at life and sets in motion this richly imagined, uproariously funny novel. Epic and intimate, hilarious and poignant, White Teeth is the story of two North London families--one headed by Archie, the other by Archie's best friend, a Muslim Bengali named Samad Iqbal. Pals since they served together in World War II, Archie and Samad are a decidedly unlikely pair. Plodding Archie is typical in every way until he marries Clara, a beautiful, toothless Jamaican woman half his age, and the couple have a daughter named Irie (the Jamaican word for "no problem"). Samad--devoutly Muslim, hopelessly "foreign"--weds the feisty and always suspicious Alsana in a prearranged union. They have twin sons named Millat and Magid, one a pot-smoking punk-cum-militant Muslim and the other an insufferable science nerd. The riotous and tortured histories of the Joneses and the Iqbals are fundamentally intertwined, capturing an empire's worth of cultural identity, history, and hope. Zadie Smith's dazzling first novel plays out its bounding, vibrant course in a Jamaican hair salon in North London, an Indian restaurant in Leicester Square, an Irish poolroom turned immigrant cafe, a liberal public school, a sleek science institute. A winning debut inevery respect, White Teeth marks the arrival of a wondrously talented writer who takes on the big themes--faith, race, gender, history, and culture--and triumphs. |
Contents
Acknowledgments ix | 1 |
The Peculiar Second Marriage of Archie Jones | 3 |
Teething Trouble | 23 |
Copyright | |
21 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Allah Alsana Ambrosia Archibald Archie Archie's Ardashir asked bloody Bowden Brother called Captain Chalfen Clara Cricklewood Crispin Darcus door English eyes face feel felt fucking garden girl Glenard going hair halal hand haraam Harlesden head Hifan Hortense Indian Iqbal Irie Irie's Jamaican Joely Jones Josh Joshua Joyce KEVIN kids kind kitchen knew live looked Luncheon Vouchers Mad Mary Magid Mangal Pande Marcus Marcus's mean Mickey Millat Miniver minutes mother mouse mouth Muslim Neena never nice nose O'Connell's once Oscar Pande Poppy Burt-Jones Qur'an round Ryan Topps Samad Miah shit Shiva side sitting smile smoke straight street sure talk teeth tell There's thing thought thrips told trying turned Viv Richards walked watched What's Willesden woman women word yeah ZADIE SMITH