Synopsis
Adapted from four lectures given at Oxford University by Ali Smith, author of bestselling The Accidental, Artful is a tidal wave of ideas in four thematically organised bursts of thought: 'On Time', 'On Form', 'On Edge' and 'On Offer and On Reflection'.
Refusing to be tied down to either fiction or the essay form, Artful is narrated by a character who is haunted - literally - by a former lover, the writer of a series of lectures about art and literature. Full of both the poignancy and humour of fiction and all the sideways insights and jaunty angles you would expect from Ali Smith's criticism, it explores form, style, life, love, death, mortality, immortality and what art and writing can mean.
Shortlisted for the Man Booker prize and the Orange prize, and winner of the Encore Award and the Arts Council Scottish Book Award, Ali Smith is one of our most interesting writers at work today. Artful shows her at her most innovative, warm and generous best.
'Smith can make anything happen, which is why she is one of our most exciting writers today' Daily Telegraph
'She's a genius, genuinely modern in the heroic, glorious sense' Alain de Botton
'A true and valuable British original' Nick Hornby
'Smith's love of language lights up all her books . . . she's someone to relish' The New York Times Book Review
Ali Smith was born in Inverness in 1962 and lives in Cambridge. She is the author of There but for the, Free Love, Like, Hotel World, Other Stories and Other Stories, The Whole Story and Other Stories, The Accidental, Girl Meets Boy and The First Person and Other Stories.
Reviews
» Submit a reviewCritic Review:
"Smith can make anything happen, which is why she is one of our most exciting writers today"
—Daily Telegraph
"Dazzlingly inventive"
—A.S. Byatt
"She's a genius, genuinely modern in the heroic, glorious sense"
—Alain de Botton
“This is a joyful and optimistic paean to the healing powers of art.”
—New Statesman
“This is a sparky, inspiring, charm-laden little book that makes you want to read more and differently”
—Scotland on Sunday
“You’ll find nuggets of delight, ideas to make you woozy... an insight into an author who is in love with books, invention and words in all their depth and shiny surface”
—The Herald
"Smart, allusive, informal, playful, audacious. (It's true. I think I am in love with Ali Smith.) ARTFUL is a gift from Ali Smith to her reader. It's a book no one else could have written, or would have. Smith has a critic's eye, but fills her book with the novelist's art, and the novelist's heart."
— Independent on Sunday
"Glittering inventiveness. Not just a ghost story, but also a love letter. As emotionally freighted as a piece of storytelling, as intellectually rigorous as an academic's essay."
— Independent
"Smith's exuberance and cleverness delight. This is a sparky, inspiring, charm-laden little book that makes you want to read more and differently."
— The Week
"A wonderful achievement. Smith is so readable, likable, witty, and difficult to put down, that it makes you wonder why more people don't make use of her. She could make David Cameron interesting. ARTFUL is a uniquely accessible work of criticism at the same time as it's a haunting fictional portrayal of grief, lost love and the power of art. Smith possesses rare levels of genius. She deserves to be read and discussed by every single person who has an interest in literature today."
— Bookmunch
Product details
Format :
Hardback
ISBN: 9780241145401
Size : 135 x 216mm
Pages : 240
Published : 01 Nov 2012
Publisher : Hamish Hamilton
Other formats for Artful:
» Paperback : £9.99
» ePub eBook: eBook : £11.99
» Downloadable Audio: Audiobook : £12.98
Artful
£20.00
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