The Tattered Ruins of the Map: On Sarah Sze’s Centrifuge
(first published in the catalogue accompanying the work Centrifuge by Sarah Sze, a site-specific installation commissioned by Haus der Kunst in Munich for the 2017 edition of Der Öffentlichkeit—von den Freunden Haus der Kunst)
Getting In and Out
(Harper’s, July 2017)
“Theme for English B” from Collected Poems by Langston Hughes (1994)
I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin and Raoul Peck (2016)
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov (1957)
Part IV: On the Bookshelf
Crash by J. G. Ballard
(first published as an introduction to the reissue of Crash, 4th Estate, 2014)
Crash by J. G. Ballard (1973)
Manifesto of Futurism by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1909)
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
(first published as an introduction to The Buddha of Suburbia, Faber and Faber Ltd, 2015)
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi (1990)
Notes on NW
(Guardian, 1 August 2013)
The Harper’s Columns
(Harper’s, March‒August 2011)
“On Harlem, Hatred and Javier”
Harlem Is Nowhere by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts (2011)
My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard (2011)
While the Women Are Sleeping by Javier Marías (2010)
“Of Death and Duchesses”
The Immortalization Commission by John Gray (2011)
Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought by H. G. Wells (1901)
Wait for Me! by Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (2010)
“Édouard Levé and Peter Stamm”
Autoportrait by Édouard Levé and Lorin Stein (2012)
Suicide by Édouard Levé (2008)
Seven Years by Peter Stamm (2010)
“Paula Fox and Geoff Dyer”
News from the World by Paula Fox (2011)
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster (1908)
Otherwise Known as the Human Condition by Geoff Dyer (2011)
“In Time of War” by W. H. Auden, from Journey to a War by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood (1939)
“Two Legs Bad, Six Legs Good—Sontag Worse!”
Am I a Redundant Human Being? by Mela Hartwig, trans. Kerri A. Pierce (2010)
Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love and Language from the Insect World by Marlene Zuk (2011)
“A St. Aubyn Summer”
At Last by Edward St. Aubyn (2011)
“Island Life and Mother Love,” reviewing The Dead Yard: A Story of Modern Jamaica by Ian Thomson
“On Wild Girls, Cruel Birds—and Rimbaud!”
The Wild Girls by Ursula K. Le Guin (2011)
Three to See the King (2001) and A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In (2011) by Magnus Mills
A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud (1873)
Rimbaud in Java by Jamie James (2011)
The Inaugural Newark Lecture: “The I Who Is Not Me”
(Zadie Smith, 2017; inaugural Philip Roth Lecture at the Newark Public Library, 27 October 2016)
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (1951)
“The Choice” by W. B. Yeats, from The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (2000)
Part V: Feel Free
Life-Writing
(Rookie Magazine, 2 June 2015)
The Bathroom
(Zadie Smith, 2017)
Man Versus Corpse
(New York Review of Books, 5 December 2013)
The Return of the Real by Hal Foster (1996)
Meet Justin Bieber!
(Zadie Smith, 2017)
Love in the Gardens
(New York Review of Books, 7 November 2013)
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster (1908)
“Music to Watch Girls By” by Tony Velona (1966)
The Shadow of Ideas
(Zadie Smith, 2017)
Find Your Beach
(New York Review of Books, 23 October 2014)
Joy
(New York Review of Books, 10 January 2013)
De Umbris Idearum by Giordano Bruno (1582)
INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
Page references in italic indicate illustrations.
Amis, Kingsley 288–9, 302–3
Amis, Martin 16–17, 69, 286
Anomalisa (Kaufman film) 119–35
Aristotle 297, 298
Astaire, Fred 137–9, 140, 147
Atencio, Peter 84–5, 97
attunement
Kierkegaard 110–12
and the music of Joni Mitchell 100–116
to rhythm of commercial film 154
Auden, W. H. 289, 376
Austen, Jane 144, 324
austerity 31
Baldwin, James 252–3, 254–5
I Am Not Your Negro 216
Ballard, J(ames) G(raham) 227–8, 229, 234–5, 312
Crash 228–35
Barnes, Julian 435
Bartlett, Bonnie 82–3
Baryshnikov, Mikhail 146–7
bathrooms 359–61
Baudrillard, Jean: Simulacres et simulation 206
Beckett, Samuel 138
Beckwith, Naomi 195, 199
Bee Movie 297
Being John Malkovich 119–20
Bell, Vanessa 192, 193
Bellow, Sam 242, 247, 339
Berger, John 173, 175, 176–7, 286, 287
Ways of Seeing 175, 177
Bernhard, Thomas 291
My Prizes 255–7
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo 402, 413
Beyoncé 143–4
Bieber, Justin 381–93
“Boyfriend” 389
Biggie (Christopher Wallace) 65, 66
Binoche, Juliette 156
Black, Hannah 218–19, 220–21
Black Lives Matter 186
Blaise, Cynthia 92–3, 94
Bleek, Memphis (Malik Cox) 66
Boboli Gardens, Florence 397–9
boredom 47, 61, 122, 126–7, 133, 158, 284, 288, 378, 394, 408
Borges, Jorge Luis 206
Borghese Gardens/Villa Borghese, Rome 399–405
Bowie, David 145
Bradford, Mark 185–6
Niagara 181, 184–5
Brexit 22–34
Bridges, Jeff 157
Brooks, Elkie (Elaine Bookbinder) 101
Brooks, Rebekah 8
Brown, James 141
Bruno, Giordano 408–9, 410–11, 415
Bryant, Carolyn 221
Buber, Martin 382–5, 387–90, 391, 392
I and Thou 383–5, 386–8, 390–91
Burnham, Andy 26
Burtynsky, Edward 287–8
Bush, George W. 70
Butler, Octavia 144
Byrne, David 145
C. K., Louis 380
Calverley, Charles Stuart 297
Cameron, David 23, 32
camp 181–6, 182
Carter, Shawn see Jay-Z
Caulfield, Holden 237
Chanticleer, Raven 254
Charisse, Cyd 137–8
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor 179, 180
Cheever, John 347
child-rearing 357–60, 362–4
Christie, Linford
93
class 28–30, 31, 243, 266
classlessness 285, 286
English middle class 355–8
climate change 14–19, 24
Clock, The (Marclay film) 152–9
Coetzee, J. M. 288
compassion 124, 130, 131–2, 134–5
Condo, George 195
Conservative Party 23
Corbyn, Jeremy 32
corpses/corpsification 367, 368–80
Crawford, Joan 156
Cyrus, Miley 380
dancing/dancers 136–47
Darwinism 259–61, 263
Davis, Bette 156
Davis, Sammy, Jr 140
Dawkins, Richard 262, 263
de Sica, Vittorio: It Happened in the Park 401–2
death 132, 134, 256, 261, 262, 314, 370, 371–2
drive 230
and immortality 258–63
and spectacle 230–31
see also corpses/corpsification
Delibes, Léo: Lakmé 133
“flower duet” 127–8, 133n
DeLillo, Don 278
democracy 24
Denner, Balthasar: Alte Frau 173–5, 176–80
despair 35, 39–40
Devonshire, Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of 264–7
Wait for Me! 264–6
diary-writing 351–3
Didion, Joan 144
Donaghy, Jack 423
Dostoevsky, Fyodor 105, 146
Dragset, Ingar 415–16, 419
Drysdale, Rebecca 81, 90
Dyer, Geoff 283–9
education 33, 40
multicultural 22
schools see schools
system 33, 40
Eisenberg, Jesse 47–8
Eliot, George 320
Elmgreen, Michael 415–16, 419
Eminem (born Marshall Mathers III) 66, 67
environment
climate change 14–19, 24
environmental consciousness 16
and religion 16
EU referendum 23–6, 30–31, 32
see also Brexit
Facebook
Connect 54
Generation 45–63
Open Graph 57
and The Social Network 46–52
Zuckerberg and the “Why?” of 52, 59, 62
Fanon, Frantz 215
Farage, Nigel 24, 33
Fincher, David
Fight Club 49
The Social Network 46–52, 57, 62–3
Fischl, Eric: A Visit to/A Visit from/ the Island 221
Florence 396–9
Forster, E. M. 282
Foster, Hal 373–4
Fox, Liam 33
Fox, Paul Hervey 279
Fox, Paula 277–83, 285
Commentary 280
Desperate Characters 278
“Grace” 282–3
News from the World 279
“The Tender Night” 281
Franklin, Ben 297
Franzen, Jonathan
Freedom 276
“Perchance to Dream” 278
Freedland, Jonathan 32n
Freud, Lucian 189, 200
Fritsch, Gerhard 255
Fuller, Hoyt 282
Garfield, Andrew 48
Gedney, William 284, 285–6
Generation Facebook 45–63
Gervais, Ricky 77
Get Out (Peele film) 212–16, 217, 222–3
Gibson, William 95
Gomes, Carolyn 314–15
Gomez, Selena 393
Gove, Michael 23–4, 32
Graham, Martha 136
Grand Tour 395–6
Granger, Farley 156
Grant, Duncan 192–3
Grau, Donatien: “The Meaning of Restraint” 199
Gray, John: The Immortalization Commission 258–63
Greenberg, Clement 190, 196
greenhouse gases 17
Gross, Terry 82
Gumby, Alexander 254
gun control 24
Hamilton, Sheila 315
Hammer, Armie 49
Harlem 251–5
Harris, Lyle Ashton 221
Hartman, Phil 89
Hartwig, Mela 289–95
Am I a Redundant Human Being? 289, 290–95
Das Weib ist ein Nichts (The Woman is a Nothing) 290
health care 31, 33, 40
Hemingway, Ernest Miller 278–9, 287
Hemon, Aleksandar 34
Herr, Carrie 93
hip hop 64–73, 92, 108, 186, 200, 316–17, 335
Hitler, Adolf 211, 265
Holiday, Billie (Eleanora Fagan) 164–72
Hova see Jay-Z (Shawn Carter)
Hunt, Jeremy 8, 25
Hurston, Zora Neale 242, 247
Huxley, Aldous 105–6
identity, in writing novels 333–47
impossible identities 333–42
the reality effect 342–7
immigration 22, 24n, 25–6, 31, 33–4
inequality 28–30
Internet 10, 54–5, 59, 243, 288
Facebook see Facebook
Web 2.0 57–8, 60
Jackson, Janet 143–4
Jackson, Michael 141, 142–3, 381
Jamaica 17, 311–18, 360–61
James, Jamie: Rimbaud in Java 330–32
Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) 64–73
“22 Twos” 67
“44 Fours” 68
Decoded 65, 66, 68
“Friend or Foe” 67
Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation 72
Watch the Throne (with Kanye West) 69–71
Johansson, Scarlett 423
Johnson, Boris 23, 26, 32
Johnson, Duke 121
joy 40, 105, 427–35
Joyce, James 242
Judt, Tony 10
Kafka, Franz 325, 330
Kapuściński, Ryszard 287
Kastelic, Caroline 121
Kaufman, Charlie 119–20, 131
Anomalisa 119–35
Keats, John 143, 334
Keener, Catherine 119–20
Kehlmann, Daniel 256
Kelly, Gene 137–9
Kensal Rise Library 7, 12
Key, Keegan-Michael 75, 77–8, 79, 80, 82–3, 84, 86–7, 91, 92–4
Peele partnership see Key & Peele
Key, Michael 92
Key & Peele 74–96, 97–9
wigs 74–5, 86
Kierkegaard, Søren: Fear and Trembling 110–12
Kilburn Library 11
Kimmel, Jimmy 83
Knausgård, Karl Ove 344, 345, 347, 377–80
Kureishi, Hanif: The Buddha of Suburbia 236–47, 341
Labour Party 26
Langford, Mary 315
Lanier, Jaron 55–8, 60, 61, 62
Larkin, Philip 423–4
Lauer, Matt 55
Lawrence, D. H. 285, 287
paintings 280
Sons and Lovers 285
Lawrence, Frieda 280, 285
Lawson, Deana 221
Le Guin, Ursula K. 321–4
The Dispossesed 321, 324
The Wild Girls 322–4
Lebedev, Alexander 33
Leigh, Jennifer Jason 129, 131
Leighton, Frederick Lord: Flaming June 161–3
Lemon, Liz 423
Levé, Édouard 267–71
Amérique 267
Autoportrait 268–9, 270–71
Homonymes 267
Jeune femme de Paris 267–8
Pêcheur de Bagdad 267
Suicide 267, 269–70, 271
Leveson Inquiry 8
libraries 3, 4, 6, 7–8, 9–13
Lin, Tao: Taipei 378–9
literary prizes 35, 39, 255–7
Lloyd, Harold 159
Londoncentricism 26–7
love-objects 381–2
Lucy 423
Lynch, David: Blue Velvet 229
Madonna 143–4
Mander, Karel van 178
Manhattan 420–26
Mantel, Hilary: An Experiment in Love 276–7
Marclay, Christian 205
The Clock 152–9
Marías, Javier 257–8
Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso: Manifesto of Futurism 232–3
Marshall, Kerry James 193–4, 195
Martel, Jay 97–8
Martin, Trayvon 65
McMurtry, Larry 332
McQuillan-Key, Margaret 92
meeting 381–93
with an I-It attitude 383–4, 385, 389–90, 393
with an I-Thou attitude 383–5, 386–8, 390–91, 393
Miller, Alice 93
Mills, Magnus 324–30
A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In 326–30
Explorers of the New Century 326
The Scheme for Full Employment 326
Three to See the King 325–6
Miłosz, Czesław 346
Mitchell, David 6
Mitchell, Joni 101–3, 104–5, 106, 110, 112, 113, 114–16
Blue 105, 110
Mitford family 264–7
Deborah Mitford see Devonshire, Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of
Mobb Deep 68
Monroe, Marilyn 181, 183, 184
motherhood 318, 319–21
multiculturalism 22, 27, 31, 35, 36, 41
Murdoch, James 8
Murdoch, Rupert 33
Nabokov, Vladimir 138, 139, 217–18, 257, 258, 413
Napoleon I 392
Negro Digest 282
Nelson, Patrick 192–3
neoliberalism 25
networking software 46, 52, 56–7, 60, 62
New York Times, The 37
Newman, Paul 154
Niagara (Bradford film) 181, 184–5
Nicholas Brothers (Harold and Fayard Nicholas) 140–41
Nin, Anaïs 106
Noonan, Tom 123, 131, 134
Northern Ireland 23
nostalgia 37, 39, 45, 60, 156, 158, 190, 211, 239
Nunez, Sigrid: Sempre Susan 300
Nureyev, Rudolf 146
Obama, Barack 65–6, 88–9
Odd Future 69, 73
Ofili, Chris 191, 194
Ofsted 20
optimism 35, 39–41, 55
Orton, Joe 351
otherness
“the demonic Thou” 392