Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith is the author of this collection of essays, as well as five novels, to date. As Feel Free showcases, Smith is also an essayist and frequent contributer to magazines and newspapers. Although Smith identifies primarily as a novelist, and confesses that novels are her area of expertise, Feel Free displays Smith’s broad array of interests and incredible range as a writer. In Feel Free, Smith tackles topics such as hip-hop and rap, xenophobia, technology, art and comedy.

Smith’s observations and analyses often return to two major themes, both of which were important in her own life as a lower-middle class biracial girl growing up in northwest London: race and class. At one point she writes that, in the U.K., class is perhaps a more significant determinant of one’s life than race, but acknowledges that the two are often linked. Smith...