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Title: Potboiler
Review: What a disappointment. Smith has cobbled together lots of stories and lots of characters, but with almost no precision whatsoever. This is a page-turner for sure, but the almost total lack of characterization or observation of human nature, and smug posturing make for a tiresome read indeed. Comparisons to Rushdie are not only totally outrageous (he knows how to write with depth, feeling, and intellect) but also mildly racist, positing as they do that any writer of color chronicling immigrant life in London must be like Rushdie. Stop thinking about buying this book and go to the master. For a book on being a colored immigrant in London, pick up Satanic Verses instead.
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