Author Archives: drewsmith28

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Words, words, words...

Stoner by John Williams (Vintage)

SO, 49 years on the mid west university of pre world war 11 wins the Waterstone Book of the Year. Well crafted, of a period, but grey and dull and as fusty as a check academic jacket, as is all … Continue reading

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Hhhh by Laurent Binet (Harvill Secker)

“Gabcik – that’s his name – really did exist. Lying alone on a little iron bed, did he hear, from outside, beyond the shutters of a darkened apartment, the unmistakeable creaking of the Prague tramways. I want to believe so.” … Continue reading

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Sushi and beyond by Michael Booth (Vintage)

“Ha! You so fat you not so see your dankon for years! You pants too small. You are so fat, sun go down when you bend over!” A true story, a travelogue where Michael Booth takes his wife and two … Continue reading

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The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt (Granta)

“I was sitting outside the Commodore’s mansion, waiting for my brother Charlie to come out with news of the job.” IT is hard for a western to get literary recognition, although if it works for west coast gumshoes then perhaps … Continue reading

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Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Granta)

HAD Eleanor Catton’s precocious first novel The Rehearsal been shortlisted for the Booker Prize alongside her weightier winning tome the Luminaries, it might have been interesting to see how it fared. Academic as a question perhaps but relevant maybe. In The … Continue reading

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A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)

“Hi!” My name is Nao and i am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you.” THIS is a great book. Quite why it did not … Continue reading

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Doped by Jamie Read (Racing Post)

“BY THE end of 1959 Jack Stiles, glad to be free from Captain Ryan Price’s iron rule, was back in Newmarket and living in a second-floor flat in the Carlton Hotel on the High Street.” DOPED won the William Hill … Continue reading

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