Public Library and other stories

Product Description

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?

The stories in Ali Smith's new collection 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.

'A brilliant, comprehensive, unpredictable defence of public libraries. You can travel anywhere on an Ali Smith library ticket.' Observer

'A rich blend of fact and fiction. With characteristic exuberance, Smith's stories leap across time and space, delighting in unexpected connections. People are transported out of everyday life by dreams and delusions, by the erroneous or unpredictable. Each of Smith's stories is a gem: fast-paced, immediately intriguing, sharply humorous.' Financial Times

'Transforming and perfectly formed. If love you books, you'll love this.' Grazia

'Clever, mischievous, hugely entertaining.' Independent

'Smith's stories are priceless.' Sunday Express

'A pleasure to read. Each story is interspersed with an elegiac short section, quoting writers extolling the joys of public libraries.' Spectator

'Beautifully written, innovative, playful. A bravura display by one of our most gifted and original writers.' Daily Express