The First Person: And Other Stories

In these energetic, exhilarating stories, Ali Smith portrays a world of everyday dislocation, where people nevertheless find connection, mystery, and love. In “Astute Fiery Luxurious,” a misdelivered package throws the life of a couple into disarray. A boys unexplained illness in “I Know Something You Dont Know” drives his mother to seek guidance from homeopathic healers, with inconclusive results. In “The Child,” an unnervingly mature young boy voices offensive humor that genteel society would rather not acknowledge. And a confident older woman meets her awkward fourteen-year-old self in “Writ” but cant figure out how to guide her–or even whether she should.

As Smith explores the subtle links between what we know and what we feel, she creates an exuberant, masterly collection that is packed full of ideas, humor, nuance, and compassion. Ali Smith and the short story are made for each other.

"Smith handily proves the truism that everyone has their own tale to tell in this bangup collection. From 'The History of History,' where a young narrator focuses on the fashion-related aspects of the beheading of Mary, queen of Scots, to block out problems at home, to 'Writ,' where a grown woman sits down for an involved chat with her 14-year-old self, the author takes readers on lyrical rides through the lives of everyday Britons. 'The Child' begins with an ordinary situation — a trip to the grocery — and shoots into fantasy when an infant begins telling crass jokes. Others, such as 'I Know Something You Don't Know,' explore heartbreaking reality, in this case a desperate mother turning to phone-book healers and psychics to cure her son's illness. And in the title story, the narrator weighs her fears of being in a relationship against her apprehension at being alone. At once quirky and compulsively readable, this collection puts a layered and enjoyable spin on the many forms of the short story." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

From the award-winning author of "The Accidental" comes this dazzlingly inventive new collection of stories in which Smith portrays a world of everyday dislocation, where people nevertheless find connection, mystery, and love.

Ali Smith is the author of six previous works of fiction, including the novel Hotel World, which was short-listed for both the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize in 2001 and won the Encore Award and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award in 2002, and The Accidental, which won the Whitbread Award in 2005 and was short-listed for the 2005 Man Booker Prize and the 2006 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction. Her story collections include Free Love, which won a Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award, and The Whole Story and other Stories. Born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1962, Smith now lives in Cambridge, England.