Why BS Johnson suits the digital age

Its 50 years since Johnson took a pair of scissors - both figuratively and literally - to the conventions of the novel. As Ali Smiths dual-narrative novel vies for this years Booker, Mark Hooper celebrates another literary innovator

Among the favourites to win this years Man Booker prize is the hugely deserving Ali Smith, with her dazzling, dual-narrative novel, How to Be Both.

Part of the books appeal lies in its unusual construction. As Smith explains, the book comes in two versions, with two ways to read it starting either with the tale of the 15th-century fresco painter Francesco del Cossa, or with that of George, a present-day teenage girl.

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