Book industry trade magazine Publisher’s Weekly generally doesn’t like my novels much — I’m a bit too rough and tumble for their highbrow tastes — and their review of Raw: A Love Story was typically mixed. They did say some nice things: “Smith… packs his paragraphs with cleverness, mapping out a soapy, exciting plot. When Sepp goes off course, his unpredictable path gets seamy but leaves a glimmer of hope for a self-obsessed society—at least for one willing to laugh at itself.”
My wife reminded me that since Raw makes fun of pretentious book critics, I should get ready to take some hits. I think I’m supposed to set my jaw and mouth a catch phrase like “Bring it on!” or “Let’s roll!” but that just seems weird.
In other book critic news, the Los Angeles Review of Books has run a thoughtful round up of cannabis-centric books, including Heart of Dankness, here.