There but for the is the sparkling satirical novel by bestselling Ali Smith. 'There once was a man who, one night between the main course and the sweet at a dinner party, went upstairs and locked himself in one of the bedrooms of the house of the people who were giving the dinner party...' As time passes by and the consequences of this stranger's actions ripple outwards, touching the owners, the guests, the neighbours and the whole country, so Ali Smith draws us into a beautiful, strange place where everyone is so much more than they at first appear. There but for the was hailed as one of the best books of 2011 by Jeanette Winterson, A.S. Byatt, Patrick Ness, Sebastian Barry, Boyd Tonkin, Erica Wagner and Nick Barley. "Dazzlingly inventive". (A.S. Byatt). "Whimsically devastating. Playful, humorous, serious, profoundly clever and profoundly affecting". ("Guardian"). "A real gem". (Erica Wagner, "The Times"). "Eccentric, adventurous, intoxicating, dazzling. This is a novel with serious ambitions that remains huge fun to read". ("Literary Review"). "If you liked Smith's earlier fiction, you will know that she enjoys setting up a situation before chucking in a literary Molotov cocktail then describing what happens". ("Sunday Express"). "Wonderful, word-playful, compelling". (Jeanette Winterson). "Smith can make anything happen, which is why she is one of our most exciting writers today". ("Daily Telegraph"). "I take my hat off to Ali Smith. Her writing lifts the soul". ("Evening Standard"). Ali Smith is the author of novels "Girl Meets Boy", "Like" and the bestsellers "The Accidental" and "Hotel World". She has published the short story collections "The First Person and Other Stories", "Free Love and Other Stories", "Other Stories and Other Stories" and "The Whole Story and Other Stories". She has been twice-shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, twice nominated for the Orange Prize and won the Whitbread Novel of the Year in 2005.

阿莉·史密斯|Ali Smith

1962年生于苏格兰，英国小说家、剧作家、记者。

其作品《纵横交错的世界》被《卫报》评为2011年年度最佳小说，《艺想》更是荣膺首届金匠奖。2014年，阿莉·史密斯凭借小说《两面人生》入围布克奖短名单，同时斩获了百利女性小说奖（原柑橘文学奖）、福里奥文学奖、金匠奖以及科斯塔文学奖。2017年，《秋》再度入围布克奖短名单，并登上了当年《纽约时报》“十大好书”榜榜首，并在《卫报》于2019年评选出的“二十一世纪百佳图书”榜单中位列第八名。

她的笔触极具辨识度，外柔内刚，细腻中带着潮湿感，如同弥漫在伦敦上空的淡淡水雾，却又饱含着对民族和政治的深刻反思，仿佛一颗埋在柔软泥土中的胡桃，坚硬而温存。