How to Be Both
by Ali Smith
How to Be Both by Ali Smith holds a well received rating of 3.61 out of 5, based on 9.4K reader ratings. First published in 2014. The book spans 376 pages.
About How to Be Both
Passionate, compassionate, vitally inventive and scrupulously playful, Ali Smith’s novels are like nothing else. A true original, she is a one-of-a-kind literary sensation. Her novels consistently attract serious acclaim and discussion—and have won her a dedicated readership who are drawn again and again to the warmth, humanity and humor of her voice. How to be both is a novel all about art’s versatility. Borrowing from painting’s fresco technique to make an original literary double-take, it’s a fast-moving genre-bending conversation between forms, times, truths and fictions. There’s a Renaissance artist of the 1460s. There’s the child of a child of the 1960s. Two tales of love and injustice twist into a singular yarn where time gets timeless, structural gets playful, knowing gets mysterious, fictional gets real—and all life’s givens get given a second chance.A NOTE TO THE READER:Who says stories reach everybody in the same order?This novel can be read in two ways and this book provides you with both.In half of all printed editions of the novel the narrative EYES comes before CAMERA.In the other half of printed editions the narrative CAMERA precedes EYES.The narratives are exactly the same in both versions, just in a different order. The books are intentionally printed in two different ways, so that readers can randomly have different experiences reading the same text. So, depending on which edition you happen to receive, the book will be: EYES, CAMERA, or CAMERA, EYES. Enjoy the adventure.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Author | Ali Smith |
| Published | 2014 |
| Pages | 376 |
| Genres | Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Arts & Photography |
| Average Rating | 3.61 / 5.00 |
| Total Ratings | 9,431 |
Reader Ratings & Analysis
Rating Overview
How It Compares
Frequently Asked Questions
What genre is How to Be Both?
How to Be Both is categorized as Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Arts & Photography. Its primary genre classification is Historical Fiction.
Is How to Be Both worth reading?
Based on 9.4K reader ratings, How to Be Both has an average score of 3.61 out of 5.00, which is considered "Well Received."
How many pages is How to Be Both?
How to Be Both has 376 pages.
Who wrote How to Be Both?
How to Be Both was written by Ali Smith. It was first published in 2014.
Data sourced from community book ratings and reviews. Last updated: April 15, 2026
