How to Be Both

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How to Be Both
HowToBeBoth.jpg
First Edition cover, featuring photograph of Sylvie Vartan and Françoise Hardy by Jean-Marie Périer.
The photograph is mentioned in the novel, George being likened to the image of Sylvie Vartan.
Author Ali Smith
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Hamish Hamilton
Publication date
August 2014
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages372
ISBN 978-0375424106
Preceded byArtful 
Followed byAutumn 

How to Be Both is a 2014 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published by Hamish Hamilton. [1] It was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize [2] and the 2015 Folio Prize. [3] It won the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize, [4] [5] the Novel Award in the 2014 Costa Book Awards and the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. [6]

Contents

Plot introduction

The story is told from two perspectives: those of George, a pedantic 16-year-old girl living in contemporary Cambridge, and Francesco del Cossa, an Italian renaissance artist responsible for painting a series of frescoes in the 'Hall of the Months' at the Palazzo Schifanoia (translated as the 'Palace of Not Being Bored' in the novel) in Ferrara, Italy. Two versions of the book were published simultaneously, one in which George's story appears first, the other in which Francesco's comes first. [7]

George

Struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of her mother (Dr Carol Martineau Economist Journalist Internet Guerilla Interventionist – according to her obituary), George attends counselling sessions at her school. She also has to look after her younger brother, Henry, and cope with her alcoholic father. She recalls travelling with her mother to see the frescos in Ferrara and asking her about the elusive painter Francesco del Cossa. Her mother believed herself to be being monitored by the security services as a result of her subversive activities and George has inherited this belief, and becomes obsessed with Lisa Goliard a friend of her mother's with a suspicious claim to being an artist. George also becomes obsessed with Francesco and travels frequently to London to view his portrait of St. Vincent Ferrer.

Francesco

Francesco finds his disembodied self in front of his portrait of St. Vincent Ferrer as it is being examined by what appears to be a boy. He muses on how he came to find himself in this situation, thinking back to the events in his own past life, and as he does so he becomes attached to the (apparent) boy; but people—and genders—are never what they seem to be. Or maybe they are both.

Reception

The book received generally positive reviews from critics. On The Omnivore , the book received a score of 4.0 out of 5 based on British critic reviews. [8] Culture Critic gave it an aggregated critic score of 82 percent based on British press reviews. [9] According to Book Marks , the book received, based on American press, "rave" reviews based on 16 critic reviews with 12 being "rave" and 3 being "positive" and 1 being "mixed". [10] On Bookmarks Magazine Mar/Apr 2015 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Readers should not let Smith's experimental structure deter them from an otherwise charming and poignant novel." [11] Reviews were positive:

In 2024, it was listed at number 99 in the New York Times' list of 100 Best Books of the 21st century. [16]

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References

  1. Editions of How to be both by Ali Smith Retrieved 2015-02-17.
  2. The Man Booker Prize 2014 Retrieved 2015-02-17.
  3. "Home Page 2022 | the Rathbones Folio Prize". www.thefolioprize.com. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  4. "New Statesman | The shortlist for the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize has been announced". New Statesman . 1 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  5. "Ali Smith wins Goldsmiths Prize for How to be Both". BBC News . 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  6. Lusher, Adam (3 June 2015). "Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015 winner: Ali Smith triumphs with How to Be Both". The Independent. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 "How to Be Both by Ali Smith review – playful, tender, unforgettable | Books | The Guardian". theguardian.com. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  8. "How to Be Both by Ali Smith". The Omnivore . Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  9. "Ali Smith - There but for the". Culture Critic . Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  10. "How to Be Both". Book Marks . Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  11. "How to Be Both". Bookmarks Magazine . Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  12. How to Be Both by Ali Smith review – playful, tender, unforgettable | Books | The Guardian Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  13. How To Be Both by Ali Smith, book review Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  14. How to Be Both by Ali Smith, review: 'brimming with pain and joy' Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  15. Book review: ‘How to Be Both,’ by Ali Smith Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  16. "The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century". The New York Times. 8 July 2024. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.