Public Library And Other Stories

By (author) Ali Smith; By (author) Smith, Ali
Short description/annotation
Why are books so very powerful? What do the books we''ve read over our lives - our own personal libraries - make of us? What does the unravelling of our tradition of public libraries, so hard-won but now in jeopardy, say about us? This is about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, and more.
Description

A richly inventive collection of stories about our enduring love of books from the Booker Prize-shortlisted, Women''s Prize-winning author of How to be both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet

''Smith is dazzling in her daring. Sheer inventive power'' Observer

Why are books so powerful?
What do the books we read make of us?
And what does the vanishing of public libraries say about us?

These stories are about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once; how they remind us to pay attention to the world we make.

Public libraries are places of joy, freedom, community and discovery - and they are under threat from funding cuts and widespread closures across the UK and further afield. With this brilliantly inventive collection, Ali Smith raises her voice in defence of our public libraries, celebrating their essential place in our culture and history.

*****

''Ali Smith is a one-off. Her imagination and originality make her one of the most exciting novelists of her generation'' Daily Express

''In Ali Smith we have a writer whose dazzling sophistication will surely be celebrated, studied and argues over hundreds of years after we''re gone'' Scotsman

''Smith''s world is incredibly generous - it''s a place where all sorts of stories and human connections are possible'' Metro

Review quote
Publisher''s description. A story collection from the peerless, multi-award-winning Ali Smith. What do we do with books - and what do they do with us? How do books shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once? And how might they remind us to pay attention to the world we make?
Review quote
Smith is dazzling in her daring. Sheer inventive power
Review quote
Ali Smith is a one-off. Her imagination and originality make her one of the most exciting novelists of her generation
Review quote
In Ali Smith we have a writer whose dazzling sophistication will surely be celebrated, studied and argues over hundreds of years after we''re gone
Review quote
Smith''s world is incredibly generous - it''s a place where all sorts of stories and human connections are possible
Biographical note
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.
Promotional headline
The stories in Ali Smith''s new collection are about what we do with book