In these energetic, exhilarating stories, Ali Smith portrays a world of everyday dislocation, where people nevertheless find connection, mystery, a...
read full description
reviews
Oct 27, 2008
Imogen
rated it: 
My dog has been waking me up every two or three hours every night. Last night she was licking her water bowl and dragging it across the floor, so I filled it then went back to bed; then she woke me up two hours later 'cause she had to pee, and then she woke me up two more hours later because she was excited and wanted to jump on my face and dig into my skull like there was peanut butter in there. Did you know they've done science experiments with sleep where they interrupt your sleep a bunch of
More...
Feb 27, 2009
Anne
rated it:
This was my first Ali Smith book, and now I see what all the fuss has been about. If you admire Cate Kennedy, Lydia Davis, Miranda July, and/or Kevin Brockmeier, Smith shares something with all of these writers--but first and foremost, she rocks a style all her own. She writes with a fierce, intelligent delight, and her stories are whimsical yet urgent; they move at a clip, then suddenly slow you down. Smith has that rare gift for literalizing metaphors (like sitting down with your 14-year-old s
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 05, 2011
MJ
rated it:
A ragbag of tales here, ranging from the directly emotional (‘True Short Story’ and the title piece), to the intellectually playful (‘Fidelio and Bess’ and ‘Astute Fiery Luxurious’) to the downright hilarious and strange (‘The Child’ and ‘No Exit’). When I first read Ali Smith I was unimpressed (hence this two-rating of Other Stories) and narked at her constant inclusion of the reader as a character—most of the first-person stories replace a character name with ‘you,’ which I found a contrived p
More...
4 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jun 14, 2010
Ashleigh
rated it:
True Short Story
I really loved this. It was short, believable and poignant. I loved the link with the Echo/Narcissus myth - it's one of my favourite of the Greek myths and I loved the relevance it had to the story overall. I really loved the last few lines: "So when is a short story like a nymph? When the echo of it answers back." I really loved that. 5/5
The Child
I loved the humour in this one! So funny. For all the wrong reasons of course but you know, sometim More...
I really loved this. It was short, believable and poignant. I loved the link with the Echo/Narcissus myth - it's one of my favourite of the Greek myths and I loved the relevance it had to the story overall. I really loved the last few lines: "So when is a short story like a nymph? When the echo of it answers back." I really loved that. 5/5
The Child
I loved the humour in this one! So funny. For all the wrong reasons of course but you know, sometim More...
Jan 03, 2010
Teresa
rated it:
I love Ali Smith's stories. They are inventive, fun, generous, open, insightful, thought-provoking ... I could go on and on. I'd read three of these online before, and they were a pleasure to read again.
The first five stories of the collection are very strong (so are a couple of the later ones) and my favorite has to be "Fidelio and Bess," a story that interweaves the story of a present-day couple with the story in Beethoven's only opera and the story in the Gershwin o More...
The first five stories of the collection are very strong (so are a couple of the later ones) and my favorite has to be "Fidelio and Bess," a story that interweaves the story of a present-day couple with the story in Beethoven's only opera and the story in the Gershwin o More...
11 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Apr 19, 2010
Eric
rated it: 
I really need to strain to come up with anything to say about the stories I read from this collection - I claim to have gotten the idea about half-way through. I was with this collection of stories during a painfully prolonged film screening and discussion of a 14th-century novel-turned-film and thus I trudged along. In normal circumstances, I would not bother reading much further than the first story that turns from a woman eavesdropping on a father-and-son conversation about short stories. The
More...
Feb 14, 2010
Derek
rated it: 
Ali Smith's world is at times bleak and lonely, at times rich and full, but in all cases a different take on life than we usually see. Smith has garnered a strong following in her short career, and this new Anchor books edition of The First Person and Other Stories solidifies the fact that she is a voice we will continue to hear from. Whether this book will be the one recommended to new readers of her work is another question.
Smith plays with the short story form, at times unsu More...
Smith plays with the short story form, at times unsu More...
Sep 22, 2010
Isabell
rated it:
Well, well, well, do I ever love libraries. Especially Finnish ones, especially my local one. It has one English fiction shelf (stacking a lot of the classics, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Huxley if you get lucky; a startling amount of Cecilia Ahern and Janet Evanovich, donated by sort-of-disappointed beach readers, I assume; and then, every once in a while, a few real gems).
I like having just the one English fiction shelf, because the gems are more easily happened upon here than in, s More...
I like having just the one English fiction shelf, because the gems are more easily happened upon here than in, s More...
Feb 15, 2010
Amy Wilder
rated it: 
NYT paperback row enticed me by describing them as linked short stories (i.e. really telling a longer story) and lesbian and good. This description (see below) is reminiscent of a proposed work I've been offered recently which intrigued me, so I wanted to see how it worked to have a vaguely sketched love story in short vignettes. It works. Well.
"THE FIRST PERSON: And Other Stories, by Ali Smith (Anchor, $14.95.) In this collection, Smith tests the limits of the story form. Ar More...
"THE FIRST PERSON: And Other Stories, by Ali Smith (Anchor, $14.95.) In this collection, Smith tests the limits of the story form. Ar More...
May 05, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
I loved this. My reading habits this year have been horrible, jumping from Stephen King to Stephen King without pausing for anything more challenging. I picked The First Person up from the library on a whim, and from the second page on I was so pleased to be reading it. It was so refreshing, after weeks of middle-of-the-road, no-thinking-required writing. I took a break for a few days after the fourth story, and when I came back to it the shine had worn off a little - it was brilliant, but downg
More...
Nov 05, 2009
Fran
rated it:
I've been wanting to delve in to Ali Smith's short stories for a while. So when I found a hidden one at the back of the shelf in waterstones with an old 3for2 sticker on it, I grabbed it & ran to the counter.
I have not been disappointed apart from the annoyance of her not using any speech marks whatsoever, this doesn't change by the end of the book, neither does my annoyance but at least we're consistant!
I love these short stories, they're moments, fragments and remind me More...
I have not been disappointed apart from the annoyance of her not using any speech marks whatsoever, this doesn't change by the end of the book, neither does my annoyance but at least we're consistant!
I love these short stories, they're moments, fragments and remind me More...
Feb 21, 2009
Jodi
rated it:
I can’t remember if this is the year that we proclaim the death of the novel or if it’s the short story that’s supposed to be dead. Maybe it’s fiction in general, or publishing specifically. It’s hard to keep up with all the death knells. So depending on what’s supposed to be dead at the moment, Ali Smith’s collection The First Person and Other Stories is either a blazing celebration of the short story or a tender eulogy.
Read the rest on MN Reads More...
Read the rest on MN Reads More...
Jan 04, 2012
George
rated it:
I've found that when I read short stories by writers whose novels I like, I'm usually disappointed (Haruki Murakami and Jhumpa Lahiri come to mind). It's not that I don't like short stories, but with few exceptions (I'd nominate Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, and Philip K. Dick), I think few authors are equally successful at both forms. Nevertheless, after thoroughly enjoying Smith's The Accidental, she seemed like the kind of writer who could write a pretty darn good short story. Like that novel,
More...
Apr 26, 2010
Cynthia
rated it: 
Have recently enjoyed a number of short story publications, and having quickly looked at the ratings of this book and the author, I thought I'd try it. I was disappointed, and didn't make it past the first 4-5 stories. I felt as though they were random bursts of thought with no purpose or message, and at the other spectrum I didn't find them humorous either. Re-reading the reviews on Goodreads it sounds like readers of her earlier books were similarly disappointed, maybe I'll have to try one
More...
Mar 15, 2009
In The First Person and Other Stories, Ali Smith continues to stretch the limits of the short story form. Her experiments don't always work. But even when they don't, they're thought-provoking, and when they do, they're dazzling. "Writ," a story which centres on a conversation between the adult narrator and her fourteen-year-old self, is one of the best and I suspect that over time it will rank among my all-time favourites.
Oct 15, 2011
Lauren
rated it:
This book was sent to me from a pen pal and arrived with tiny paper hearts tucked into the pages of her favorite stories. It was one of the most pleasurable reading experiences I've had in a long time -- thank you, Georgia! Ali Smith is a master of dialogue and a short story genius. I am about to go hunting for more of her books.
Feb 10, 2009
Linda
rated it:
Ali Smith is so original and fresh a writer,that
I am going to read her book The Accidental. One
amazing story, the child, is about a woman's discovery
of a child in her supermarket trolley. The child turns
out to be the id or the devil. ANother amazing story
writ finds the author meeting her fourteen year old self.
She is a unique writer.
Feb 23, 2009
Linda
rated it:
I don't really like to read short stories but Ali Smith may have convinced me otherwise with "True Short Story" in this collection. I really liked the title story -- read it three times before I put the book down.
Oct 05, 2011
Cheryl
rated it:
This book was nice enough. Ali Smith is a very versatile writer when it comes to characters. Some of the stories I didn't get much out of, some I liked. My favorite was the one with the baby.
Jun 15, 2009
Paul (formerly known as Current)
rated it:
Although the voice in many of these stories has its own uniqueness, in general, I did not connect with either the voice or the stories finding both more bland than experimentally interesting.
Dec 13, 2008
G
rated it:
Not her best. I have to go back and read a few stories but I was a little disappointed after the promise of The Accidental. Hopefully the next novel will be more to my liking.
Jan 17, 2009
Pamster
rated it:
Short stories about short stories, beautiful and smart. The Accidental really blew me away, I gotta hold onto a star in case her next is that awes. First story? Holy shit. A trainweeper.
May 25, 2009
I actually abandoned this about a month ago having read 4.5 stories of a 12 story collection. And I can't even remember enough about the stories I did read to say why.
Apr 09, 2009
Thorn
rated it:
Lovely, charming, wordy fun in these short stories. These worked for me so much better than the experimental Winterson stories they resemble. I loved the characters but even more the VOICES.
Nov 18, 2009
Pamela
rated it:
Perhaps because of Ali Smith's reputation, I was a bit flummoxed by these short stories. I found them original and clever but too cerebral to be fully engaging.
May 16, 2011
Julie
rated it:
"The Child" is the best story in the lot. Freaking great. There's a lot of stories here written in her "you and me" style that I find so interesting.
Jan 01, 2010
Frank
rated it:
Technically accomplished. Formally impressive. Deceptive simplicity overdone to the point of annoying. Devoid of real content.
Jan 20, 2009
HiphopQuyn
rated it:
I love Ali Smith. She's never afraid to bend the rules of writing and treats all kinds of love as both normal and extraordinary.
Apr 09, 2009
The dozen stories in The First Person are deceptively simple: no verbal pyrotechnics, no otherworldly setting, no last-minute epiphanies, and most of the time, no traditional rising action or climax. They sneak up on you, camouflaged as innocuous little anecdotes about innocuous little interactions and misunderstandings, and only later do you realize they’re asking the most fundamental questions that fiction, or life itself, can ask.
Read the rest of my review at Fiction Writers Revi More...
Read the rest of my review at Fiction Writers Revi More...
Oct 23, 2011
Eli
rated it:
Ali Smith is far cleverer than me, but doesn't always read that way. Her stories are rambling, playful, and intentionally genre-breaking; most of these short stories are ABOUT short stories. I mostly read novels and felt like I needed to spend more time on this collection, and with short stories in general.
