THE AUTOGRAPH MAN

Zadie Smith's new novel, flaws and all, is a breathtaking high-wire act, irreverent, funny, clever, mystifying, and mythic. Alex-Li Tandem is a half-Jewish, half-Chinese dealer in autographs. His obsession with the autograph of a once famous actress leads him into a marijuana and alcohol- induced haze, in which order turns to chaos and celebrity is reduced to a signature. When 12-year-old Alex and his friends drive his father to the edge, Steven Crossley performs with youthful zeal. As Alex becomes an unpleasant, self-involved adult whose friends urge him to say kaddish for his long dead father, Crossley convinces us that these are the same boys, seasoned by age. Crossley delivers a virtuoso performance of this challenging, difficult story by one of England's finest young novelists. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]