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by Ali Smith
In these energetic, exhilarating stories, Ali Smith portrays a world of everyday dislocation, where people nevertheless find connection, mystery, and love. In "Astute Fiery Luxurious," a fetid misdelivered package throws the life of a couple into disarray. A boy’s mysterious illness in "I Know Something You Don’t Know" drives his mother to seek guidance from homeopathic healers, with inconclusive results. In “The Child,”an unnervingly mature young boy voices offensive humor that genteel society would rather not acknowledge. And a woman meets her fourteen-year-old self but can’t figure out how to guide her--or even whether she should in "Writ."
As Smith explores the subtle links between what we know and what we feel, she creates an exuberant, masterly collection that is packed full of ideas, humor, nuance, and compassion. Ali Smith and the short story are made for each other.
"At once quirky and compulsively readable, this collection puts a layered and enjoyable spin on the many forms of the short story." - Publishers Weekly.
"Starred Review. This collection will appeal to anyone looking for imaginative short fiction that is experimental enough to be thought-provoking but also remains accessible to the discerning reader." - Library Journal.
"These technical ploys are all carried off impressively, and Smith cracks some good jokes along the way. But after 200 pages, a few weaknesses emerge as well. While her supply of narrative hooks appears to be inexhaustible, she rarely develops them dramatically... " - The Guardian (UK).
"There is plenty in Smith's preoccupation with form to engage the literary theorist, but it is also possible to read her more simply; as a writer seething with stories who is compelled to experiment with how she puts them on the plate." - The Daily Telegraph.
This information about The First Person and Other Stories was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: © Christian Sinibaldi
Ali Smith is the author of many works of fiction, including, most recently, Companion Piece, the "Seasonal Quartet," Public library and other stories, and How to be both, which won the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Costa Novel Award. Her work has four times been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Most recently, she won the George Orwell Prize for Political Fiction for Summer. Born in Inverness, Scotland, she lives in Cambridge, England.
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