I mooched this because BookMooch kept recommending it to me. On the evidence of this book, Ali Smith is a really good writer, but somehow it didn't live up to my expectations. The basic idea (disruptive outsider bursts into the family's lives and by exposing each person's inner demons causes transformations to happen) isn't exactly original. It felt a bit pretentious in places, and it's one of those books where none of the characters is likeable, so I couldn't really get engaged with it because I didn't care what happened to them. I have a feeling I missed a lot of the references to Hollywood films I haven't seen (this aspect of the book, and the stylistic playfulness, reminded me of [a:Jonathan Coe|19916|Jonathan Coe|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1233589818p2/19916.jpg]). It gets 3 stars for the quality of the writing, and the last section when the Smarts return home, which was more interesting than the rest. I might read another of her books if it comes my way.