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From: book reviews Category: Books Date: 31 August 2007 Time: 10:27 AM Review: Intensely readable. I wonder if the sheer force of easy writing and plotting can undermine literary appreciation. Does Smiley's frequent change of setting and character and voice mean that we rate her lower than the repetitive Roths and Bellows of the book world? Does her femaleness mean she is less attached to the semi-autobiographical protagonist? Or is Smiley just trash fiction dressed up a little fancy to make the dumbo-intellectuals feel better about reading stories?