Product Description
At a dinner party in the posh London suburb of Greenwich, Miles Garth suddenly leaves the table midway through the meal, locks himself in an upstairs room, and refuses to leave. An eclectic group of neighbors and friends slowly gathers around the house, and the story of Miles is one told from the points of view of four of them: a woman in her forties called Anna, a man in his sixties called Mark, a woman in her eighties called May, and a ten-year-old child called Brooke. The thing is . . . none of these people knows Miles anything more than glancingly. So how much is it possible to know about a stranger? And what are the consequences of even the most casual, most fleeting meetings we have every day with other human beings?
Brilliantly audacious, disarmingly playful, full of Smith’s trademark wit and puns, There But For The is a deft exploration of the human need for separation—from our pasts and from one another—and the redemptive possibilities for connections.
Brilliantly audacious, disarmingly playful, full of Smith’s trademark wit and puns, There But For The is a deft exploration of the human need for separation—from our pasts and from one another—and the redemptive possibilities for connections.
Reviews/Praise
“The sweet lilt in Anne Flosnik’s intonation lifts this unusual audiobook to a notable height. . . . Smith’s prose is successful more often than not with its thought-provoking plot twists and unconventional characters. Listeners hoping for something different will find what they seek in this recording.”
—AudioFile
“Flosnik’s narration is well paced and entertaining, and this—coupled with Smith’s playful language, rhymes, songs, and imaginative plot—will enchant listeners.”
—Publishers Weekly
“There is often concern that a complex or experimental novel doesn’t translate well into audio. The belief is that you need to closely study what has been written. I don’t doubt that this is true in some cases, but not here. There But For The made a wonderful audiobook. Anne Flosnik, who is fantastic at interpreting what must have been a daunting novel, provided vocal cues that helped me navigate the landscape.”
—Literate Housewife
“So much more than the sum of its parts. . . . This fine, unusual novel is sweet and melancholy, indulgent of language and of the fragile oddballs who so relish in it.”
—Publishers Weekly [HC starred review]
“The book—packed with jokes and random facts—is really about small stuff like life and death and the meaning of human existence, all told with sharp humor and real insight. The novel itself is a riddle with no solution, which is exactly the point: When you reluctantly come to the end, you can’t help going back to the beginning, trying to unravel this beautifully elusive book’s mysterious spell. A-”
—Entertainment Weekly
“A beguiling ode to human connection shot through with existential wonder and virtuosic wordplay.”
—TIME
Author Bio
You Might Also Enjoy
|
The Accidental |
Artful |
