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431 ratings | 52 reviews | avg rating:3.91

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Ron D. Smith

Goodreads Author

Website

http://smithdeville.wordpress.com

Twitter

Ron D Smith

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Humor, Young Adult

Influences

Daniel Woodrell, William Gay, Wendell Berry, Cormac McCarthy, Elmore L ...more

Member Since

December 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/smithdeville

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I started my adult life as a journalist, but gave it up when I realized I wasn't going to become Walter Cronkite. I grew up in small towns in Missouri and Iowa, which make my adopted hometown of Louisville look like Manhattan.

I envy the dialogue of Daniel Woodrell, the sense of place of Silas House, and how Wendell Berry makes writing seem deceptively easy. I appreciate Elmore Leonard for being Elmore Leonard. I don't write like anyone but me.
...more

43 posts
Ron D. Smith's Blog

A loss that sticks with you

Remembering a loss.
http://smithdeville.com/2014/07/09/th...

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Published on July 28, 2014 12:19

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Ron D. Smith’s books

Average rating: 4.52 · 29 ratings · 5 reviews · 9 distinct works

	The Night Budda Got Deep in It 4.21 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Storm Before the Calm: The Early Lives of Venus and Hiro 4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Farmer's Goodbye it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	First Comes Marriage 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Habeas Equus 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Wife is a Lazy Liar 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fisherman's Guide to Life 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Ron is Currently Reading

Ron Smith is currently reading

Scar the Sky: A Novel

by J. Todd Scott (Goodreads Author)

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Oct 02, 2026 08:28AM

Ron Smith is currently reading

The Complaints (Malcolm Fox #1)

by Ian Rankin (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 01, 2026 03:30PM

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I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War against Reconstruction

by Kidada E. Williams (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 28, 2026 01:15PM

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Ron Smith is currently reading Scar the Sky: A Novel by J. Todd Scott (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Ron Smith rated a book it was amazing Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence by Kellie Carter Jackson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 30, 2026 02:38AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Force and Freedom by Kellie Carter Jackson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Force and Freedom by Kellie Carter Jackson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith has read Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence by Kellie Carter Jackson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 30, 2026 02:38AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Force and Freedom by Kellie Carter Jackson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Force and Freedom by Kellie Carter Jackson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith has read Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence by Kellie Carter Jackson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 30, 2026 02:38AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Force and Freedom by Kellie Carter Jackson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Force and Freedom by Kellie Carter Jackson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book really liked it When the Fireflies Dance by Aisha Hassan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 17, 2026 07:41AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of When the Fireflies Dance by Aisha Hassan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — When the Fireflies Dance by Aisha Hassan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book it was amazing The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 08, 2026 02:37PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book it was amazing I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 02, 2026 03:56PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book really liked it Scotland's Forgotten Past: A History of the Mislaid, Misplaced and Misunderstood by Alistair Moffat	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 17, 2026 10:33AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Scotland's Forgotten Past by Alistair Moffat. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Scotland's Forgotten Past by Alistair Moffat <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book really liked it The Foreign Correspondent (Night Soldiers, #9) by Alan Furst	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 17, 2026 10:33AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith is currently reading The Complaints (Malcolm Fox #1) by Ian Rankin (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 01, 2026 03:30PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Complaints by Ian Rankin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Complaints by Ian Rankin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Ron D. Smith (?)

“He must have started putting away a little money right after he cleaned up his first projectile vomit. It didn’t matter that he was only making a few dollars a day. Here’s the thing you have to understand about most immigrants. They’re experts at stashing cash in their Serta Sleepers. You pay a dude from Ghana or Guatemala a buck and he’ll sock away 90 cents of it. Pretty soon he’s made a down payment on a nice three-bedroom ranch in the burbs just by busing tables during the day and delivering pizza at night. Meanwhile, the rest of us are bitching because our six-figure incomes won’t cover the mortgage on the McMansion.”
― Ron D. Smith, The Savior of Turk

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Ron’s Quotes

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
― Thomas Merton , No Man Is an Island

tags: art

3394 likes

“The first draft of anything is shit.”
― Ernest Hemingway

tags: attributed-no-source, writing

4234 likes

“We can make a little order where we are, and then the big sweep of history on which we can have no effect doesn't overwhelm us. We do it with colors, with a garden, with the furnishings of a room, or with sounds and words. We make a little form, and we gain composure.”
― Robert Frost

tags: inspirational

25 likes

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Ron D. Smith’s Followers (109)

Ron D. Smith

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