Sophia Nguyen in The Washington Post:
Zadie Smith did not understand why anyone would be interested in her bookshelves.
“I think the problem is, I feel like interiors and books are used as a kind of social and political capital, meant to express something about you. But I just don’t have time,” she said. “I’m aware, when I go to certain writers’ studies, they’re beautiful and everything is perfect. That kind of energy, I can only put into writing.”
Smith; her husband, the poet and novelist Nick Laird; and their children moved to north London in 2020, and much of their library has yet to be unpacked. “Every box you open, it’s like — ah, well, here we are, a pile of books for babies. And I don’t have babies anymore.” Generally, aside from the art books and graphic novels and other volumes still in storage, she is unsparing about the books that circulate in the house, which arrive by the dozens in the mail. “The annoying thing is that some of my favorite new books, I read them and then I put them out again. There’s been a lot of good debuts recently, but they come and go.”
More here.
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