Ten Days in the Hills - Rilegato

“A tour de force novel that showcases [Smiley’s] vast cinematic lore, reminding us why she has earned a reputation as one of the greatest entertainers in American letters. In Ten Days in the Hills, Smiley cleverly borrows the narrative set-up of Boccaccio’s Decameron to allow her readers to eavesdrop on a 10-day house party among members of Hollywood’s second-string players. . . . [A] marathon of Woody Allen-like conversations . . . and Oscar-worthy dialogue . . . witty enough to keep readers chuckling . . . The thinking person’s Big Chill. . . . Throughout her career Smiley has demonstrated a genius for thrusting readers straight into the heart of her characters’ emotions, and this time it feels as if she’s adjusted the lens and taken us in for an even closer look. Just how does she make us care so deeply for these people? . . . Readers will be amazed.”
–Andrea Hoag, The AARP Magazine

“[Ten Days in the Hills is full of] merriment, movies and mating, and, in tone, is akin to [Smiley’s] lively and humorous Moo. But careful readers might notice, at times, a touch of sadness beneath the mirthful atmosphere. . . . Smiley’s rich prose manages to turn a simple kiss into something wondrously poetic. . . [Her] artistic facility with prose and creating scenes is evident. . . . [The] stories and conversations are as colorful as [the characters’] backgrounds. . . . Through flashbacks and dinner party stories and revelations, Smiley peels back the layers that have been buffering the relationships of all gathered during [the] 10 days [over which the novel takes place]. . . . A sharp-edged comedy of manners.”
–Dorman T. Shindler, The Denver Post

“A talky, bawdy book that says a lot about Hollywood and even more about the humanness of the 21st century American . . . Smiley has taken a step toward rejecting the traditional novel’s story arc and instead moved toward a form that is both old and new. It’s all about the story . . . Ultimately, her message here is one of art and its ability to free the artist. Forget the idiots in Washington: Get naked; make art; tell stories. Could there by any saner advice for the age we dwell in?”
–Joe O’Connell, The Austin Chronicle

“Ten Days in the Hills is a novel about intercourse. Talk and sex. All kinds of sex. But mostly talk . . . [The characters] talk a lot about the Iraq war. They also ricochet off a vast number of other topics . . . The topic that animates the group most, though, aside from sex, is movies . . . Sprinkled throughout the 10 days are some wonderful stories. Deft characterizations abound. Lovely apercus proliferate . . . [Turn] the volume off and enjoy this book–which is so concerned with film–as a silent movie. The actions will speak louder than words. Especially actions amorous.”
–Sarah Bird, Chicago Tribune

“A spicy, steamy sexalicious slice of life.”
–Kim Baer, The Free Lance-Star

“[The characters in Ten Days in the Hills are] a talky, highly sexed, often contentious bunch, and Smiley proves herself their skilled ventriloquist. As her characters struggle with what plagues them–how to hold on to fame and love; what to eat–her own sly humor, and humanity, emerge. Smiley avoids taking potshots at her indulged and indulgent cast. She even manages to show us they’re worth caring for.”
–Jean Nathan, Vogue

“[The characters in Ten Days in the Hills] tell stories in order to ward off the decline of western democracy. And do these people know how to talk. They talk like people under siege. Every bit of it seduces the reader. Just as she takes us inside movies, Smiley takes us inside sex. No writer has ever been more eloquent about [it] either. It’s the opposite of pornography, when you get right down to it: not visual, but tactile. At the same time, Ten Days turns out to be one of the most political novels ever written by an American author. You would think that by now Hollywood would be worn out as a subject of satire. Smiley, however, brings something fresh to her brand of parody: characters who feel real.”
–Mary Welp, Louisville Courier-Journal

“The latest from Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres, follows the exploits of one small enclave in the hills of Hollywood as they react to the Iraq War over the 10 days following the 2003 Oscars . . . Smiley writes with cinematic verve and is nearly without equal when it comes to crystallizing the vagaries of a woman’s inner narrative–musing, meandering, and weaving as it does, free and insouciant even in the face of the withering male ego. [Her character] Elena’s narrative is shot through with frank talk that results in a fresh, oddly romantic way of approaching sexuality–and there is as much action as there is talk.”
–David Cotner, Village Voice

“Compulsively readable . . . Smiley describes the frequent sexual encounters among the characters in explicit detail and with gusto.”
–Margaret Quamme, The Columbus Dispatch

“Dazzling . . . [It] is [Smiley’s] delightfully unpredictable range [as a novelist] that makes her one of our finest contemporary writers . . . Smiley’s sex scenes can be lyrical or matter-of-fact, quietly erotic or bawdy, and she can also bring a wickedly satirical edge to the subject . . . . This is not to say that Smiley’s characters are unable to be surprised by love. Rather, it is a different kind of love that takes people by surprise in Ten Days in the Hills–not passionate carnal desire, but a tender love that promises to be more sustaining.”
–Lauren F. Winner, Books & Culture: A Christian Review

“When social historians look back at 2003 to discover America’s psychological state as 9/11 gave way to the Iraq War, they’ll learn more from Jane Smiley’s decadent fantasia Ten Days in the Hills than from the period’s cable news or talk radio . . . . As one character obsesses about the arguments she’d have with Condoleeza Rice if only she could, the devastating ‘Why?’s that would cut through the administration party line, the disconnection and powerlessness felt by millions of Americans become incarnate in the dreamlike Hollywood hills.”
–Donna Bowman, The A.V. Club / The Onion

“Ten Days in the Hills proves Smiley’s greatness . . . [In the novel], Smiley shifts perspectives, dexterously exploring how self-perception varies from the perceptions of others. The characters pass the time watching and talking about movies, as well as taking about the war and having sex. Indeed, sex is rampant in Ten Days in the Hills, and Smiley presents it in myriad forms while seeming to wink at the reader . . . Smiley does a tremendous job delineating each character’s idiom and point of view . . . [She] is among our most talented writers.”
–Rob Cline, Cedar Rapids Gazette

“A diverse group of attractive folks take refuge from tragedy in a hillside villa, where much merriment, bawdiness, and storytelling ensue. Boccaccio’s Decameron? Yes, at least transplanted to 21st-century-America in this sly and sexy comic novel . . . . During an eventful week and a half, the [characters’] political tensions, family arguments, anecdotes, gossip, and lovemaking make up a satirical frolic reminiscent of the Pulitzer Prize—winning author’s Moo, though here with more emphasis on Eros than academe.”
–Starr E. Smith, Library Journal (starred)

“It’s a kind of magic . . . Jane Smiley’s latterday Decameron is . . . thoughtful and sensuous, [and] it gives a subtle and often funny account of the relations between a group of finely individualized people. It takes us into their thought processes and shows each of them from multiple viewpoints, as one character after another becomes–as it were–the view-finder. It opens out into their past lives as they tell each other stories . . . It tells us what they eat and how they cook it (Smiley is wittily observant of modern culinary fads). It frankly describes what couples do in bed . . . . South America has given us magical realism. In this richly entertaining and surprising novel, Smiley gives us the North American equivalent–realism, substantial and salty, with a transformational spice of magic.”
–Lucy Hughes-Hallet, The Sunday Times, UK

“[A] highly entertaining yet thoughtful examination of postmillenial America, this is Jane Smiley’s Decameron, just as A Thousand Acres was her King Lear.”
–John Burnside, The Times, UK

“Sex, movies, current events and conversation all come together in [this] wickedly enjoyable novel. Although movie culture dominates the book . . . mostly, the characters tell each other stories . . . And as they talk, dine, watch DVDs and go to bed, the subtleties of their relationships and opinions of one another develop with complexity . . . [Ten Days in the Hills] has as much sex as you’ll find this side of an adult bookstore . . . Smiley writes of picking up The Decameron at a terrifying moment and finding [that] its compulsive storytellers offer ‘much more than escapist fun . . . it was a reminder of human resilience–not merely that humans survive, but that as they survive they can’t help recreating complex culture, which includes aesthetic, moral, political, sexual and sensual ideas.’ That dream of regeneration drives  Smiley’s romp in the hills as well . . . So c...

Jane Smiley is the author of more than ten novels, as well as four works of nonfiction. She is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, and in 2001 was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She received the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature in 2006. Ms. Smiley lives in Northern California.