Books like The First Person and Other Stories

Oh my God, I haven’t written a review in here for so long that I’ve almost forgotten how to go about it. But I’ve just read this collection of short stories by Ali Smith that I absolutely must enthuse briefly about! It is my first encounter with Ms. Smith, and I rushed out and bought another collection by her immediately aften finishing this (being in London over Easter, an English bookstore was at hand. An aside: oh, why did I have to go back home?!)However, I actually began rereading this first because it struck me that I had so enjoyed myself the first time round (much as my first trip to London years ago), rushing through and not stopping to dwell on details. Hence the rereading. (And hence a zillion more trips to London).So now I’m stopping and gawking and wondering what on Earth she’s about much of the time, and I have to remind myself to notice the details. Because Ali Smith is just such good company that again I’m tempted to shoot through it, and for some (now unfathomable) reason I had assumed she was difficult, too post-post-modern for me. Turns out she is not.Not all the stories are brilliant, to me. But they’re all unique, original takes on the genre. Some are downright weird, some are really good, and a few are oh, just so damn wonderful! (Especially “Writ”) I hereby pledge to read much more by Ali Smith because even when she’s not utterly amazing, she’s still so very interesting, not to say witty, knowledgeable, warm, with a nerdy wordsmithy ways with words. Ms. Smith has herself a new Danish fangirl!