Zadie Smith's White Teeth is a classic international bestseller and an unforgettable portrait of London, available as a Penguin Essential for the first time

One of the most talked about fictional debuts ever, White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book.

'Funny, clever ... and a rollicking good read' Independent

'An astonishingly assured début, funny and serious ... I was delighted' Salman Rushdie

'The almost preposterous talent was clear from the first pages' Julian Barnes, Guardian

'Quirky, sassy and wise ... a big, splashy, populous production reminiscent of books by Dickens and Salman Rushdie ... demonstrates both an instinctive storytelling talent and a fully fashioned voice that's street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time' New York Times

'Smith writes like an old hand, and, sometimes, like a dream' New Yorker

'Outstanding ... A strikingly clever and funny book with a passion for ideas, for language and for the rich tragic-comedy of life' Sunday Telegraph

'Do believe the hype' The Times

'Relentlessly funny ... idiosyncratic, and deeply felt' Guardian