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There but for the

  • Imprint: Penguin

  • ISBN: 9780241992951

  • Length: 542  Minutes

  • RRP: £13.00

There but for the

Brought to you by Penguin.

A sparkling satire from the MAN BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED and WOMEN'S PRIZE-WINNING author of How to be both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet

'There once was a man who, one night between the main course and the sweet at a dinner party, went upstairs and locked himself in one of the bedrooms of the house of the people who were giving the dinner party . . .'

As time passes by and the consequences of this stranger's actions ripple outwards, touching the owners, the guests, the neighbours and the whole country, so Ali Smith draws us into a beautiful, strange place where everyone is so much more than they first appear...

'Playful, humorous, serious, profoundly clever and profoundly affecting' Guardian

'Adventurous, intoxicating, dazzling. This is a novel with serious ambitions that remains huge fun to read' Literary Review

'Smith can make anything happen, which is why she is one of our most exciting writers today' Daily Telegraph

© Ali Smith 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

  • Imprint: Penguin

  • ISBN: 9780241992951

  • Length: 542  Minutes

  • RRP: £13.00

Reviews

  • Whimsically devastating. Playful, humorous, serious, profoundly clever and profoundly affecting

    Guardian

  • Remarkable. A brilliant novel: funny, serious, always surprising, always true

    The Times

  • I take my hat off to Ali Smith. Her writing lifts the soul

    Evening Standard

  • A playfully serious or seriously playful novel full of wit and pleasure. Wonderful

    Observer

  • Eccentric, adventurous, intoxicating, dazzling. This is a novel with serious ambitions that remains huge fun to read. The writing dances along

    Literary Review

  • Poignant, empathetic, funny. A book full of kindness and compassion

    Time Out

  • Fizzying, affectionate, sparkling. Smith presents her world view in words as fresh as lemons. A joyful read

    Herald

  • A tour de force

    Lionel Shriver, Financial Times

  • A virtuoso piece of writing, both funny and gripping . . . Smith is a writer with a rich array of conventional strengths

    Times Literary Supplement

  • A must read

    Toronto NOW

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About the Author

Ali Smith

Ali Smith was born in Inverness in 1962. She is the author of Spring, Winter, Autumn, Public library and other stories, How to be both, Shire, Artful, There but for the, The first person and other stories, Girl Meets Boy, The Accidental, The whole story and other stories, Hotel World, Other stories and other stories, Like and Free Love. Hotel World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Orange Prize. The Accidental was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize. How to be both won the Bailey's Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize and the Costa Novel of the Year Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Autumn was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017 and Winter was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2018. Ali Smith lives in Cambridge.

Ali Smith

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