Lee Smith says that Blue Marlin is one of the best things she has ever written. She brought it to Blair because she felt the novella, originally tucked into her story collection News of the Spirit under the inauspicious title “Live Bottomless,” never got the attention it deserved. Indeed, this novella—though set miles away from the Appalachia that is Smith’s home ground—is this iconic writer at her very best: sharp characterizations, wry humor, perfect pitch, and a quietly profound understanding of human nature. Fans will clamor for this book, much as they did for her novella Christmas Letters, which was packaged with a small trim size, as Blue Marlin will be. Smith is hugely popular in the South but several of her books (notably, The Last Girls) did well nationwide. The Key West setting and the movie theme should broaden the geographic appeal.
