Category Archives: Non fiction

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 →

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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 →

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Being mortal by Atul Gawande (Metropolitan)

Posted on March 18, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I learned about a lot of things in medical school, but mortality wasn’t one of them.” ON the surface this is the story of the death of Atul Gawande’s father, who, which makes it the more poignant, was also a … Continue reading →

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The 100 best novels in English by Robert McCrum (Galileo)

Posted on February 5, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The first classic of English literature I remember reading is Animal Farm. I must have been about 11 years old.” THE very first novel, Robert McCrum argues, was a protest by a puritan dissenter written from inside prison, Pilgrim’s Progress, … Continue reading →

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Into the wild by Jon Krakauer (Pan)

Posted on January 7, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Greetings from Fairbanks. This is the last you shall hear of  me Wayne”. JON Krakauer wrote one of the great Everest books Into Thin Air, which I have not included here because it was written in 1997. This work is … Continue reading →

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The lady in the van by Alan Bennett

Posted on December 21, 2015 by drewsmith28

“I ran into a snake this afternoon,’ Miss Shepherd said. ‘It was coming up Parkway. It was a long grey snake – a boa constrictor, possibly…’” POSSIBLY, is one of Miss Shepherd’s trademark conversational gambits in this miniature masterpiece, a short … Continue reading →

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Sapiens, a brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Harvill Secker)

Posted on April 9, 2015 by drewsmith28

“About 13.3 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being in what is known as the Big Bang.” YOU will like this one. It is about you. Us. The master species. The wise ones.  Dr Harari’s middle … Continue reading →

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10 Rules of Writing by Elmore Leonard (William Morrow)

Posted on January 23, 2015 by drewsmith28

“These are rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story.” YOU might like to follow the example of … Continue reading →

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The Search Warrant by Patrick Modiano (Harvill Secker)

Posted on January 23, 2015 by drewsmith28

“That is her secret.. A poor and precious secret which not even the executioners, the decrees, the occupying authorities, the Depot, the barracks, the camps, history, time – everything that corrupts and destroys you – have been able to take … Continue reading →

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Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs (Jonathan Cape)

Posted on September 15, 2014 by drewsmith28

“Monday, 1928” GRAPHIC novels as a genre can be more informed than screenplays. Film shoots with shot photos and dialogue always seem to end up shamefully in remainder shops, but illustration can also be a dangerous medium too often cliched … Continue reading →

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