Smith is one of Canada's most famous "urban" novelists; that is, unlike the traditional perception of Canadian literature as being about predominantly rural settings and themes, Smith writes specifically about big city life.
Fairly or not, this has led some critics to label him a shallow writer, more concerned with chronicling clothing labels and nightclub drinks than with articulating grand, complex themes. Smith's defenders, on the other hand, point out that Smith's fiction reflects the day-to-day reality of many young professional Canadians' lives more closely than many other Canadian writers.
Works
How Insensitive - 1994 (nominated for a Governor General's Award)
Russell C. Smith (born 1963 in South Africa) is a Canadian novelist.
Smith is one of Canada's most famous "urban" novelists; that is, unlike the traditional perception of Canadian literature as being about predominantly rural settings and themes, Smith writes specifically about big city life.
Smith's defenders, on the other hand, point out that Smith's fiction reflects the day-to-day reality of many young professional Canadians' lives more closely than many other Canadian writers.