I do my best work under pressure, so Iโll nick an artery, and my husband isnโt allowed to stanch the bleeding till Iโve banged out a chapter.
Zadie SmithI wrote 'White Teeth' in the late nineties. I didn't really feel trepidatious about it. It was a different time.
Zadie SmithWe are so convinced of the goodness of ourselves, and the goodness of our love, we cannot bear to believe that there might be something more worthy of love than us, more worthy of worship. Greeting cards routinely tell us everybody deserves love. No. Everybody deserves clean water. Not everybody deserves love all the time.
Zadie SmithIt's got two aspects. The bit that involves the public life I could not really tolerate and cannot really tolerate. I just can't get used to the idea of being somebody unreal in people's minds. I can't live my life like that.
Zadie Smith