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The Book of Other People is about character. The premise is simple: make somebody up. Creating character is at the heart of the fictional enterprise—and this book concentrates on writers who share a talent for making something recognizably human out of words (and in the case of the graphic novelists, pictures). But the purpose of the book is variety; straight "realism"—if such a thing exists—isn't the point. There are as many ways to create character as there are writers. Edited and with an introduction by 2006 Orange Prize winner Zadie Smith, The Book of Other People is a must-have collection of stories by writers at the top of their game.
The Book of Other People is a compilation of twenty four character sketches by a group of talented writers, some established, some up and coming. What originally drew me to this book was the fact that it was a Zadie Smith project; she had instructed each contributor to write a short story centered around a new character. It was a unique idea that offered endless possibilities. And that's what happened; The Book of Other People presents a snapshot of the diverse world we live in. There's everything from imaginative young boys to snotty rich women, from judges to voice actors. Not to mention the giant and the monster. There weren't any constraints on format (except, they were all put into the same font, Smith reveals in the introduction), so you have the occasional graphic short story, comic book strip and illustrations.For me, the concept of the book was what really won me over. The stories themselves were decent, some better than others. "Puppy," by George Saunders, is a story about a dog that manages to bring together two opposite families, making you sympathize with both. David Mitchell's "Judith Castle" was an interesting take on how internet dating can become just plain sad. And Vendela Vida's "Soleil" gives you just a glimpse inside a love triangle that leaves you begging for more information. I was slightly disappointed with two of my favorite authors, Jonathan Safran Foer (again, another story about immigrants in America) and Nick Hornby (Posy Simmond's illustrations were good, though, just not the idea of an author progressing through life and constantly changing his image).All in all this a interesting piece of literature, but don't except any sense of cohesion connecting the stories, or for them all to be of the same quality.
