THE QUESTIONS THAT MATTER MOST Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom

Primarily known as one of our finest novelists, Jane Smiley is also an essayist of considerable style and grace. This audiobook combines autobiography, travel, literary criticism, and history, often in the same essay. Although her phrasing is sometimes a little stilted, especially in the more academic passages, she is writing and narrating about subjects of personal importance to her. She loves St. Louis, where she grew up, and in talking about it, she connects many ideas--just as she does when considering Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Anthony Trollope. Smiley's enthusiasm comes through, and her essays prove to be as gripping as her novels. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2023]