Author | Jane Smiley |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 2022 |
A Dangerous Business is a 2022 novel by American author Jane Smiley. The novel is a mystery set in California. [1]
Smiley read about the history of Monterey, California and walked through the city during the period she wrote the novel. [2] [3]
Critical reception of the book was mixed. [4] In a review published by The Guardian , Erica Wagner wrote that the novel was "startlingly flat and unsatisfying". [5] Writing for NPR, Heller McAlpin noted that the novel was inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and referred to it as "a sort of perfumed 'Poe-Pourri'". [1] McAlpin also noted that the novel was one of several by Smiley with "inspiration in classic fiction". [1] Smiley's novel A Thousand Acres draws from King Lear , and her novel The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton draws from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . [1]
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