A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley review – madams and murder
This tale of brothel workers in gold rush America lacks mystery and risk
December 2020
Top 10s
Top 10 Shakespearean books
William Shakespeare’s influence on English literature is enormous, but from Dr Johnson to Germaine Greer, some outstanding works have explored his legacy and life story
June 2017
Top 10s
Top 10 Shakespearean stories in modern fiction
Countless books have the Bard’s dramas at their core. From Lady Macbeth of Mtsenskl to Withnail and I, here are some of the best
February 2017
Top 10s
Top 10 books about the Vikings
It’s not all raiding and looting – these stories and histories range from family dramas to political thrillers, not to mention man-eating trolls and bawdy gods
August 2016
Richard Ford, Joyce Carol Oates, David Hare and more ... leading writers on Donald Trump
The Great Gatsby, Elmer Gantry, The Wizard of Oz – top writers choose books to make sense of the US election
December 2015
‘Based on a true story’: the fine line between fact and fiction
Geoff Dyer and others
From Kapuscinski to Knausgaard, from Mantel to Macfarlane, more and more writers are challenging the border between fiction and nonfiction
October 2015
Golden Age review – the final volume of Jane Smiley’s new trilogy
With dizzying ambition, the Last Hundred Years trilogy follows one American clan from 1920 into the near future
Point of view
History v historical fiction
Historical fiction is not a secondary form – I was condescended to by a conservative historian who cannot see that he too constructs stories
Book of the day
Golden Age by Jane Smiley review – breathtaking power
The final part of her Last One Hundred Years trilogy confirms Smiley as one of the great chroniclers of 20th-century American life
August 2015
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal review – carrot cake, coronaries and comedy
This wise and witty tale of immigrant assimilation wholeheartedly embraces a passion for food
May 2015
Early Warning by Jane Smiley review – hobbled by the calendar
The author’s decision to devote a chapter to each year in this Iowan family drama spanning a century seems even more ill-conceived in the trilogy’s second volume
April 2015
Early Warning by Jane Smiley review – the American Tolstoy?
The second instalment in the Last Hundred Years trilogy brings the US family’s sprawling story vividly to life, defining what it is to be American at the most intimate level
December 2014
The most eagerly awaited fiction of 2015
Alex Clark looks forward to Ben Lerner’s second novel and the return of Kazuo Ishiguro
Observer books of the year 2014
The best fiction of 2014
The big names – Amis, McEwan – were unfairly overlooked, while a debut about a doll’s house deservedly became a bestseller, writes Viv Groskop
The Guardian Books podcast
Jane Smiley, Neel Mukherjee and the fiction of family – podcast
Pulitzer prizewinner Jane Smiley introduces the first in her new dynastic trilogy, while Neel Mukherjee explains his love-hate relationship with the family saga
November 2014
Critical eye
Book reviews roundup: Chase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius, Some Luck, Not My Father’s Son: A Family Memoir
Some Luck review – the first volume of Jane Smiley’s new trilogy
October 2014
Jane Smiley: ‘All you need is for one reader to love your book’
The novelist talks to Robert McCrum about literary heavyweights, why she doesn’t like to complain, and how her current and former husbands helped her write her new book
September 2014
National Book Award longlist for fiction: even the big names are niche
The American novels that should have won the Booker prize
