''There But For The'' is a 2011 novel by Scottish author

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 Au ...

, first published in the UK by

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which was ...

and in the US by

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

, and set in 2009 and 2010 in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London. It was cited by both ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' book review and the ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' as one of the best books of the year. and was also longlisted for the 2012

Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

Plot introduction

The story revolves around Miles Garth, an 'ethical consultant' who attends an ‘annual alternative dinner party’ at an upper-middle class household in Greenwich. After the main course Miles goes upstairs, locks himself in the spare bedroom and refuses to leave indefinitely. Eventually becoming a minor celebrity when crowds gather outside the window, Miles highlights the effects of a consumerist and celebrity-based culture as various attempts are made to capitalise on his presence within the room. The name 'Miles' is replaced by 'Milo' as Garth is henceforth positioned as some form of new spiritual leader for the 'disenfranchised'. The book is divided into four main narrative parts: *There : Tells of Anna Hardie, a recently unemployed Scottish woman who has quit her job working with asylum seekers, of whom she 'had to make not matter so much'. The hosts of the party (Gen and Eric Lee) find her name and address in Garth's wallet and contact her in the hope that she can persuade Miles to leave. Anna recalls her contact with Miles when in 1980 as a 17-year-old she and Miles travelled together on a coach tour of Europe as winners in a short-story competition. *But : In which Mark, a gay photo-researcher who invited Miles to the party mourns an old lover and hears his dead mother speaking to him in rhymes. *For : Is set in the head of May Young, an elderly lady in a care home suffering from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

, who has annual contact with Miles on the date of her daughter (and Miles' girlfriend) Jennifer's death. *The : Revolves around Brooke, the daughter of two post-graduate researchers who, like Miles, attends the Lees' infamous dinner party as an unexpected guest. At the novel's close Brooke finds the door of the spare room unlocked and goes inside to chat to Miles. Brooke asks Miles to write her a story in which his younger self and older self meet. She asks him 'what story would you tell your self and what story would your self tell you?' Miles' completed short story is positioned at the very beginning of Smith's novel.

References

External links

Reviews

The story of a dinner guest who refuses to leave develops into a satire on the way we live now in Ali Smith's enjoyably playful new novel
review by

Sarah Churchwell Sarah Bartlett Churchwell (born May 27, 1970) is a professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK. Her expertise is in 20th- and 21st-century American literature ...

for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

''
Lucy Daniel marvels at There But For The, Ali Smith’s agile, funny new novel
review from ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''
After Hiding, He Becomes a Celebrity
review from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
''There But For The'' By Ali Smith
review from ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''
Ali Smith's There But For The is a seriously playful puzzle of a novel
review by Alex Clark for ''

''
Ali Smith is a master of stylistic daring, writes Nicholas Lezard
review by

Nicholas Lezard Nicholas Andrew Selwyn LezardThe Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 December 1991, Cambridge University Press, p. 814 is an English journalist, author and literary critic. Background and education The Lezard family went from London to Ki ...

for ''

Interviews

Ali Smith discusses a debt to Franz Kafka, the nature of celebrity culture and the importance of outsidersInterview: Ali Smith - There but for the
{{Ali Smith 2011 British novels Scottish novels Novels set in London Royal Borough of Greenwich Fiction set in 2009 Fiction set in 2010 Hamish Hamilton books Hawthornden Prize-winning works