Smut

Stories

Alan Bennett

Picador

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One of England’s finest and most loved writers explores the uncomfortable and tragicomic gap between people’s public appearance and their private desires in two tender and surprising stories.

In The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson, a recently bereaved widow finds interesting ways to supplement her income by performing as a patient for medical students, and renting out her spare room. Quiet, middle-class, and middle-aged, Mrs. Donaldson will soon discover that she rather enjoys role-play at the hospital, and the irregular and startling entertainment provided by her tenants.

In The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes, a disappointed middle-aged mother dotes on her only son, Graham, who believes he must shield her from the truth. As Graham’s double life becomes increasingly complicated, we realize how little he understands, not only of his own desires but also those of his mother.

A master storyteller dissects a very English form of secrecy with two stories of the unexpected in otherwise apparently ordinary lives.

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Reviews

Praise for Smut

"Artfully entertaining…On one particular subject Bennett is incomparably brilliant: role-playing, which is the meat of both stories." —Simon Schama, Financial Times (London)

"Bennett’s humor consistently resides in the logic of the parenthetical aside, the comedy of the false appearances or misperceptions being challenged or disabused.…Mrs. Donaldson is not as unconventional as she thought herself, and no one around Mr. Forbes is where—or who—they pretend to be." —The Guardian (London)

"Tender and comic…This is Bennett’s world, where repression is never far from the sexual act….Good, old-fashioned British humor with the lightest of subversive twists."—The Independent (London)

In the Press

‘Smut - Stories’ by Alan Bennett — Review - NYTimes.com
Alan Bennett’s new book brings together two novellas that celebrate several varieties of sexual activity involving respectable parents of adult children.
- The New York Times

Smut - Stories - By Alan Bennett - Book Review - NYTimes.com
Proper middle-class characters have surprising secrets in Alan Bennett’s tales.
- The New York Times

'Smut': Book review - latimes.com
Book review: Alan Bennett's novellas about two British matrons in 'Smut' pack an unlikely punch.
- Los Angeles Times

SMUT by Alan Bennett | Kirkus Book Reviews
Read the Kirkus Review of SMUT . Kinky hijinks rattle teacups among the British bourgeoisie in the latest from Bennett (The Uncommon Reader, 2008, etc.).
- Kirkus Reviews

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About the Author

Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett has been one of England’s leading dramatists since the success of Beyond the Fringe. The History Boys won six Tony Awards; his most recent play is The Habit of Art.

Alan Bennett

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Alan Bennett

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Available Formats and Book Details

Smut
Stories
Alan Bennett

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Picador
January 2012
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9781250003164
ISBN10: 1250003164
Rough Front/Deckel Edge
4 1/2 x 7 1/8 inches, 160 pages
$14.00
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e-Book Agency

Learn more about this edition
e-Book Agency
Picador
January 2012
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429951029
ISBN10: 1429951028
192 pages
$9.99
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