There but for the

By: Ali Smith

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

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 40s called Anna, a man in his 60s called Mark, a woman in her 80s called May, and a 10-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.

©2011 Original material by Ali Smith. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Nananda Music, B.V., c/o Tier Three Music (ASCAP) for permission to reprint an excerpt from "Ding-A-Dong" by Dick Baker, Will Luikinga, and Eddy Ouwens, copyright © Nada International C.V., administered by Nananda Music, B.V. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. (P)2011 (p) 2011 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"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)

“Quirky, intricately put together. . . . A book about loss and retention: about what we forget and what we remember, about the people who pass through our lives and what bits of them cling to our consciousness." (Charles McGrath, The New York Times)

“Ali Smith’s clever, by turns whimsical and subtly wrenching fifth novel, There But For The, is another book that sends you back to the beginning once you’ve reached the end, both to connect the dots of her intricately structured story and to marvel at what she has pulled off.” (Heller McAplin, NPR “Five 2011 Books That Stay With You”)

Not my cup of tea

What disappointed you about There but for the?

I stuck through this book, but it just didn't speak to me... Strange punctuation style, seemingly irrelevant stories that have a somewhat interesting twist of circular story telling. However, I must not be the target reader type for this book, I didn't love it.

I don't know how I missed this author until now.

Any additional comments?

This book had everything I like--a good story and well-developed characters, but also an Interest in ideas, words and sentences. This is a book I would typically prefer to read than hear, but the audio worked for me very well, even with all the changes in perspective and voice.

Disappointed

What would have made There but for the better?

A different narrator might have helped. The voice grated on my nerves.

What was most disappointing about Ali Smith’s story?

Disjointed and boring. Maybe reading it instead of listening would have given me an appreciation for it. I couldn't even make it through the last 2 hours.

How could the performance have been better?

Some inflection!

Strange

I kept listening to this book, full of hour after hour of whatever, mostly to see whether there is any plot. I suppose there is one, but it’s very understated. There certainly isn’t what I think of as a climax or resolution. There are people to like and there are people to dislike, and there is a very precocious 10-year-old girl who seems to be mostly, but not solely, an observer. Her dialogue and interior monologues are quirky but interesting. Sometimes the action skips around quite unexpectedly, with no transitions, leaving the listener to wonder what is going on. The narrator’s voice is especially convincing when she takes on the point if view of the little girl.

Awful

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you enjoy confusing plot lines by fast talkers

Would you ever listen to anything by Ali Smith again?

Not likely

What didn’t you like about Anne Flosnik’s performance?

Speech pattern too fast

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from There but for the?

Nearly all

Any additional comments?

Very dissatisfied