Author Archives: drewsmith28

Unknown's avatar

About drewsmith28

Words, words, words...

The American plague by Molly Caldwell Crosby (Berkley)

Posted on July 26, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The rain came in west Africa. A massive wind blew in from the Atlantic coast bringing the deluge of water known as the south-west monsoon.” IT is fitting that there is quote early on here from Edgar Allan Poe. Before … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, Non fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Allen Klein by Fred Goodman (Mariner)

Posted on July 14, 2016 by drewsmith28

“It may have been the dramatic grounds; he may have been impressed that George C Scott and Colleen Dewhurst were renting it. Whatever the reason, Allen Klein wanted the house.” THE house was where the deals were done. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, Non fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The story of the lost child by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on July 4, 2016 by drewsmith28

“From October 1976 until 1979, when I returned to Naples to live, I avoided resuming a steady relationship with Lila. But it wasn’t easy.” OF COURSE,  it was not easy. Lila “remained the same restless creature with an irresistible force … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The vegetarian by Han Kang (Portobello)

Posted on June 18, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Before my wife turned vegetarian, I had always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way.” HAD this abrasive exercise in misogynic chauvinism, puppet women, mad dreams, bizarre pornography been written by a man I wager it might have … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Grief is the thing with feathers by Max Porter (Faber)

Posted on June 13, 2016 by drewsmith28

“There is a feather on my pillow.” THERE are only three characters here, the crow, the dad and twin boys sharing the grief after their mother dies. Each has their perspective. The dad: ‘wondering what to do. Shuffling around‘. The … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, fiction | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (Scribner)

Posted on June 9, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Once upon a time, before the boys were killed and when there were more houses than cars, before the male servants disappeared and they made do, at Upleigh and at Beechwood, with just a cook and a maid, the Sheringhams … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The life-changing magic of tidying by Marie Kondo (Vermillion)

Posted on June 9, 2016 by drewsmith28

“When I tell people that my job is teaching others how to tidy, I am usually met with looks of amazement.” I DO NOT recall if I ever actually wrote the notorious essay A Day In The Life of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Non fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on May 31, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I saw Lila for the last time five years ago, in the winter of 2005”. FERRANTE starts the third book of her Neapolitan quartet with a burst of energy, bubbling to get on with things. She leaps forward, gathering her … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranon (Orbit)

Posted on April 15, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Pawnshops in Night Vale work like this. First you need an item to pawn.”   IT is the tone of the Night Vale podcast that mesmerizes, a kind of surreal X Files, a slow smirk drawn across a nonsense universe … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

64 by Hideo Yokoyama (Riverrun)

Posted on April 5, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Snowflakes danced through the evening light.” THE publisher Riverrun is part of Quercus who famously unearthed the works of the late Stieg Larsson and thereby launched Scandi noire. So here we are again, only this time it is Japan and … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment