What the critics say about Ron Smith’s work . . .
Critical Acclaim for Kid Dynamite: The Gerry James Story:
“The first reaction to a book just released about CFL legend Gerry James is that it came out about 40 years too late. After all, he starred at running back, kick returner and placekicker during the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ glory years back in the 1950s and early ‘60s. Yet, his biography still resonates today and Kid Dynamite, The Gerry James Story (Oolichan Books, $35) by Ron Smith is a must-read for both diehard Bombers and CFL fans, and even some NHL observers.”
–Jim Bender, Toronto Sun, October 20, 2011
“…a fascinating inside view of two sports in the low-salary, high-quality 1950s and ’60s. But what stands out are the stories and feelings James shares about his father, the CFL Hall of Fame two-way star Eddie “Dynamite” James, and the legendary Bomber coach Bud Grant.”
–Gordon Sinclair, jr, Winnipeg Free Press
“If you’re a sports fan…you owe it to yourself to give it a read.”
–Rob Carnie, CHAB radio, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
“The James biography by Smith…is well-researched and engaging.”
–Cleve Dheensaw, Victoria Times-Colonist and Vancouver Sun
“The book is so revealing that James’ children learned new things about their father by poring through the pages.”
–Rob Vanstone, Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
“Gerry James did it all in storied sports career. New book’s a dynamite read.”
–Jim Bender, The Winnipeg Sun
Critical Acclaim for Seasonal:
“Smith’s Seasonal speaks the dreams hauntingly—I could almost smell them with my heart . . . a fine book.”
–Laurie Ricou
“I read Seasonal with delight: the proportion is exact.”
–Gladys Hindmarch
“A hard subject to deal with but [done] with style and delight.”
–Phyllis Webb
Critical Acclaim for Buddha Named Baudelaire:
“I’ve read Buddha Named Baudelaire several times and each time I am amazed by the worlds it opens. . . . Its language is truly magical, transformative.”
–Sharon Thesen
“The theme is the necessary death of the old, self-centered “self” . . . and the resurrection into a new vision of the mystery of the ‘other’. . . Smith’s language and surrealistic imagery evoke remarkably the steep terror of isolation and vulnerability as well as the final joy and repose of confident mutuality.”
–William Latta, Canadian Literature
Critical Acclaim for Enchantment and Other Demons:
“Ron Smith’s Enchantment and Other Demons is firmly rooted in the particulars of ordinary life, but seems endowed with a mystical sense of otherness . . . Smith’s meditations, which owe something to the method and measure of Wallace Stevens, touch on loneliness, on despair, but seem, always, to be reaching beyond these conditions.”
–Gary Geddes, BC Bookworld
“Ron Smith’s Enchantment and Other Demons explores the multiple dimensions of self, with acutely sensitive lines on isolation and family . . .”
–W.H. New, University of Toronto Quarterly
“From his writing place on Vancouver Island, Smith ventures beyond boundaries and categories of all sorts. . . .simply, a marvelous book.”
–Canadian Book Review Annual
“Smith is one of our finest poets, and here, as always, his craft is impeccable . . . Smith walks the knife-edge of responsibility in images of haunting clarity.”
–Harold Rhenisch, The Milestones Review
Critical Acclaim for What Men Know About Women:
“What Men Know About Women is a beautiful book of short stories, circling around the theme of desire and the relationship between father and son—a mixture of humor and pathos.”
–Thora Howell, National Post
” . . . how do you use gulls and crows to understand the surprise of suicide, and pain, and the depth and question of love?”
–Laurie Ricou, The American Review of Canadian Studies
“Smith’s characters struggle with the whole gamut of what makes us human, revealing the depth and complexity residing in the banality of our everyday lives, and in the inevitable and fearsome tides of our own mortality. . . . [Smith’s] story-telling technique creates richly layered narrative webs . . .”
–Colette Stoeber, Word: Toronto’s Literary Calendar
“These are stories designed for the contemplative reader, and well worth the investment of time and intellect.”
–W.P. Kinsella, Quill & Quire
Ron Smith is a BC writer of poetry, children’s books, fiction, non fiction and drama. Author of NHL and CFL biography Kid Dynamite: The Gerry James Story and the children’s book Elf the Eagle, he lives near Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
