Honor Clerk

Ali Smith’s How to be Both: warm, funny, subtle, intelligent – and baffling

You may have to read this fictional account of a 15th-century painter at least one-and-a-half times to understand it, but it's worth it

Triumph of Apollo and Sign of Gemini, ca 1470, by Francesco del Cossa Photo: Getty
  • Comments

  • How to be Both

    Ali Smith

    Hamish Hamilton, pp. 372

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Get a free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label when you subscribe to The Spectator for just £12 in our Black Friday sale

  • Free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky, worth £30
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Mark Solomons

The fall of Match of the Day

From Spectator Life
Match of the Day is looking for a new presenter now that Gary Lineker is leaving after 25 years. The truth is, it really doesn’t matter who replaces him, whether they’re male or female, a former player or nepo baby like Roman Kemp. That’s because Match of the Day really doesn’t matter to a vast

More on book review

Also by Honor Clerk

Latest

Comments

Black Friday sale: Get 10 weeks for just $1

Unlimited access to the The Spectator, online and via the app

Already a subscriber? Log in