On Beauty

　　住在美國的英國研究林布蘭學者Howard Belsey其實根本不喜歡林布蘭的作品，他與美國籍的太太Kiki結縭三十年，但已經沒有夫妻之實了。他們的三個孩子熱切踏上父母親的後塵，一個兒子探求真實的黑暗，女兒相信知識份子可以解救所有人，而大兒子則努力成為家裏面無神論者。面對孩子們這些壓抑的狂熱，Howard覺得自己真是夠了，人生首二幕戲已經唱完，不過他還不知道接下來要怎麼辦，結局如何，或者，安可曲怎麼辦？故事背景設在大西洋二岸，莎娣．史密斯第三部小說《論美》精彩解析了家庭生活、婚姻制度，還有個人與政治的交錯，誠實檢視了人的欺瞞。而也如讀者所期盼，這本書實在是很有趣。

　　《論美》提名布克獎，進入決選。《論美》在2006年獲得柑橘獎肯定。1975年出生於英國倫敦北方小鎮，父親是英國人，母親是牙買加人。1998年，莎娣．史密斯完成第一部作品《白牙》，2000年此書出版後，讓她從藉藉無名之士一躍而為眾所矚目的文壇新星，不少評論家將之譽為年輕世代的魯西迪（Salman Rushdie）或者庫雷西（Hanif Kureishi）。

　　她的第二本小說《簽名買賣人》，選擇以「聲名」為主題，在書中，她以戲謔的方式檢視聲名的虛浮與不可靠。同時，她也透過鮮活的言詞，將好萊塢電影元素融入書中人物的日常對話，顯示出與她同一世代的人，在生活中，如何受到好萊塢的影響。2003年，莎娣．史密斯獲得英國權威文學雜誌Granta選為二十位年輕世代最佳作家之一。

　　Howard Belsey, a Rembrandt scholar who doesn't like Rembrandt, is an Englishman abroad and a long-suffering professor at Wellington, a liberal New England arts college. He has been married for thirty years to Kiki, an American woman who no longer resembles the sexy activist she once was. Their three children passionately pursue their own paths: Levi quests after authentic blackness, Zora believes that intellectuals can redeem everybody, and Jerome struggles to be a believer in a family of strict atheists. Faced with the oppressive enthusiasms of his children, Howard feels that the first two acts of his life are over and he has no clear plans for the finale. Or the encore.

　　Then Jerome, Howard's older son, falls for Victoria, the stunning daughter of the right-wing icon Monty Kipps, and the two families find themselves thrown together in a beautiful corner of America, enacting a cultural and personal war against the background of real wars that they barely register. An infidelity, a death, and a legacy set in motion a chain of events that sees all parties forced to examine the unarticulated assumptions which underpin their lives. How do you choose the work on which to spend your life? Why do you love the people you love? Do you really believe what you claim to? And what is the beautiful thing, and how far will you go to get it?

　　Set on both sides of the Atlantic, Zadie Smith's third novel is a brilliant analysis of family life, the institution of marriage, intersections of the personal and political, and an honest look at people's deceptions. It is also, as you might expect, very funny indeed.