“Written between 2016 and 2025, these often compelling essays are divided into five sections: Eyeballing, Considering, Reconsidering, Mourning, and Confessing. That means pieces on visual artists like Kara Walker and films like Tár, a memorial for Wolf Hall author Hilary Mantel, and a new essay about technology that is one of the book’s high points . . . Smith leaves room for disagreement and still maintains her high-minded humanistic ideas.”—Vulture

“Smith is unsatisfied with reactive stances, whether that be in regard to the problem of consciousness or current events, and she demands that everything be broken down, examined and then reassembled. Thanks to her writing’s wry humor and compassion, the breaking down of positions goes down much better than you would assume it might, and when the worldview she has tackled has been put back together, you find yourself changed. The basic fact of your stance might not be any different, but your understanding of it most certainly will be—as well as your understanding of yourself and others. This is Smith’s most consequential publication in years . . . In Dead and Alive, Smith returns to essay-writing with a hammer.”—BookPage

“Novelist and critic Smith brings an incisive eye and keen wit to art, music, fiction, politics, and more in this wide-ranging essay collection . . . Smith delivers original insights couched in sly, artful prose . . . Readers will be rewarded by this unforgettable collection.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)