Ali Smith's Supersonic 70s

by Ali Smith

Ali Smith's Supersonic 70s collects together some of Ali Smith's best writing of the last ten years and also includes a brand new story.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

56 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 5, 2005

About the author

Ali Smith is a writer, born in Inverness, Scotland, to working-class parents. She was raised in a council house in Inverness and now lives in Cambridge. She studied at Aberdeen, and then at Cambridge, for a Ph.D. that was never finished. In a 2004 interview with writing magazine Mslexia, she talked briefly about the difficulty of becoming ill with chronic fatigue syndrome for a year and how it forced her to give up her job as a lecturer at University of Strathclyde to focus on what she really wanted to do: writing. She has been with her partner Sarah Wood for 17 years and dedicates all her books to her.

Reviews

[liz ⁀➷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea what I just read such strange and curious stories. The way smith writes is so fascinating to me and I’m determined to get through her entire bibliography. I see these stories so crisp like films in my head, the writing is so witty and fun

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were funny short stories, great to read while waiting or on the road. Bought in a cute 2nd hand shop in Amsterdam.
Don’t know why Babette from Den Haag got rid of this book which she bought in 2005, she is surely missing out, but props to her that she signs her books.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

maybe 4.9. I mean...Ali so probably 5.3

[sanne_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5* I really like the way she tells a story, need to read more.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bits and bobs from earlier books of Ali Smith's, which show her ability to turn child-snatchers, teachers who lose it, growing up, and in one set of three pages a whole generation, into something utterly inconsequential. To be fair the teacher-who-loses-it story turns into an affecting taste of lesbian crush, but I fail to see the benefit of literature that does so little in the way hers does. She's only got more unreadable since these first came out, too.

[Leyla Zebda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of a few short stories. Maybe not the best introduction to Ali smith but I couldn’t help buying it when I spotted it in a book store. The stories remind me of Maggie nelson in a way

[Abi S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this collection of curious short stories when I was a late teen and so glad to return to them now. She’s been playing with form from the get go but I love how she always takes you with her. ‘The World With Love’ particularly stood out to me on this read.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las historias cortas de Ali Smith siempre me sorprenden. Increíble como puede crear todo un mundo en muy pocas hojas.

[Hedda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5-4 stars idk
i love ali smith
and i loved the 2nd story so much ahhhh it was great i really needed to read that one but i didn’t care much for the other stories

[Tyler Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting I love gay people

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5
I fairly enjoyed these short stories. The writing was esquisite. I will absolutely read more from the author

[John Fetzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of very short stories, , under 60 pages. Stories of youth in Scotland and living in England/ London. A quick read.

[Nathália · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Both of them were clever. Neither of them was still at school past the age of thirteen. When my father was nineteen he saw, over the side of a Royal Navy cruiser on its way to Sicily, forty American soldiers who'd been wrongly parachured in and had landed miles out in the Mediterranean, and they were calling to each passing ship in the convoy to stop for them and pick them up. When he saw them waving in the water, trying to keep their heads above the wake, and he knew that no ship was ever going to stop for them, that was his education." (48-49, Tratchtenbauer)

[Natalia Pì · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'd never read anything by ali smith: and i decided i must read more. nice short stories; there's none that i liked specifically more than the others. i could say that the extract from 'the accidental' made me want to read more ali smith... what i generally love is the way she writes. i want more of that style!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like cleverly written short stories, you probably will enjoy the 56 pages of "Supersonic 70s". Ali Smith writes in an invigorating and inventive way, which creates a lot of atmosphere out of the seemingly smallest things. I especially enjoyed the allegoric last story "Trachtenbauer".

[Bookthesp1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good taster for Smiths other work. Her short stories always leave you admiring her style and ability to build tension or explore dark themes. Her book Hotel World is also brilliant and she never disappoints.

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ali Smith is a good writer and I'll be looking out for more of her stuff, but this Pocket Penguin is too slight to get excited about.

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read better; but then again I've read a lot worse too