Dead and Alive: Essays

Novelist and critic Smith (Feel Free) brings an incisive eye and keen wit to art, music, fiction, politics, and more in this wide-ranging essay collection. Whether analyzing the misogyny faced by female muses; celebrating the work of a generational novelist, such as Toni Morrison; or pointedly commenting on the political and cultural tumult of the current moment, Smith delivers original insights couched in sly, artful prose. (“We thought our lives would be reasonably paced and tell a story full of meaning. Instead it’s just been one thing after another, and there are no neat conclusions, except the certainty of death.”) Smith offers moments of small delight—like the time she as a young writer unknowingly bummed a smoke off Joan Didion—and takes aim at groups threatening the planet, like think tanks and lobbyists who deny climate change. Standout essays abound, but “Some Notes on Mediated Time” shines as an era-defining summation of how technology impedes the ability to be present. Readers will be rewarded by this unforgettable collection. (Oct.)