
Swing Time
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Narrated by:
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Pippa Bennett-Warner
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By:
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Zadie Smith
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.
A New York Times best seller.
An ambitious, exuberant new novel moving from North West London to West Africa, from the multi-award-winning author of White Teeth and On Beauty.
Two brown girls dream of being dancers - but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: About rhythm and time, about Black bodies and Black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. It's a close but complicated childhood friendship that ends abruptly in their early 20s, never to be revisited, but never quite forgotten, either.
Tracey makes it to the chorus line but struggles with adult life, while her friend leaves the old neighborhood behind, traveling the world as an assistant to a famous singer, Aimee, observing close up how the one percent live.
But when Aimee develops grand philanthropic ambitions, the story moves from London to West Africa, where diaspora tourists travel back in time to find their roots, young men risk their lives to escape into a different future, the women dance just like Tracey - the same twists, the same shakes - and the origins of a profound inequality are not a matter of distant history, but a present dance to the music of time.
Zadie Smith's newest book, Grand Union, published in 2019.
©2016 Zadie Smith (P)2016 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
“A sweeping meditation on art, race, and identity that may be [Smith’s] most ambitious work yet.” (Esquire)
“Smith’s thrilling cultural insights never overshadow the wholeness of her characters, who are so keenly observed that one feels witness to their lives.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)
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Wonderful characters, no resolution -a very satisfying read
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As always Ms Smith's writing is precise, funny, heartbreaking and true.
Adored it.
Sadie Does It Again
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I really enjoyed this book
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Oh zadie
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very realistic fiction
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Enthralling and instructive. A novel of the highest caliber
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Brilliant performance, challenging story in audio
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Well written, well read
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I listen to 3-4 audio books per month and finding an interesting read is such a prize. Although at times well written and intriguing, Swing Time was not a great book. I can't recommend it.
A sandwich, where the bread is the best part
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With that said I never lost myself into it like I did with White Teeth. Perhaps it's nearly impossible to match White Teeth's achievements. Perhaps it's that I'm listening to this after Trump, the anti -immigrant, anti -refugee took office and I was hoping for the feel good inclusiveness of White Teeth. Really it's hard to judge anything because it feels like we have been thrown back into Germany in the 30's. White Teeth gave me hope for humanity. This book just left me sad, albeit with greater insight.
But, like I said, every dad feels dark and ominous since Trump got elected.
Good listen and or read just not quite as good as White Teeth
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