J.P. Smith

Featured Works

View all»

Previous Pause Next

PUBLISHED: Jun.01.1995

Breathless: A Novel

In this haunting and sensual story, the violent death of a psychiatrist sends his wife on a journey into her hidden self. Jill Bowman, a Boston-based historian and professor, is engaged in research on the London Plague of 1665. Her life has long been bounded by academic obligations, responsibility for her autistic daughter, and life with her husband, Dr. Peter Freytag. Breathless...

Buy now

Write a review

Learn more »

PUBLISHED: Mar.03.1992

The Discovery of Light

David Reid, an American mystery writer, travels to London to meet Kate, the editor who has bought his latest manuscript. He’s captivated by this cool English beauty, and she returns to his Massachusetts home as his wife. There they begin what seems a perfect life together, until the day when Kate announces that she is leaving him. Shortly after her departure, David learns that...

Buy now

Write a review

Learn more »

PUBLISHED: Mar.03.1989

The Blue Hour

The Orpheus Myth as reset in Paris in the late '80s. With no idea as to whether his wife has left him or been abducted, Adam Füst--a young Hungarian émigré--returns to work as assistant to the controversial film director known simply as Gabor. At first it appears he'll be able to go on with his life, its surface smooth as ice; but with the help of Cuvillier, a brilliant but amoral...

Buy now

Write a review

Learn more »

PUBLISHED: Mar.03.1987

Body and Soul

A tale of corruption of a Polish émigré jazz pianist by the wicked ways of the West.

Buy now

Write a review

Learn more »

PUBLISHED: Mar.03.1985

The Man from Marseille

From the N.Y. Times Book Review: "Alexander Ostroff, the narrator...is an unsuccessful writer living in London. In his early 50's, he becomes obsessed with finding the truth about his parens, Russian expatriates who, in 1919, fled to southern France, took up with a Mephistophelian character in Nice, and went into a mysterious import-export business...that apparently involved...

Buy now

Write a review

Learn more »

J.P.'s Latest Blogs

View all»

May.19.2012 - 8:02 am

Airtight

I finally have the blurb of my forthcoming novel, Airtight (http://www.amazon.com/Airtight-ebook/dp/B0081SA4Y0/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=...

May.15.2012 - 8:28 am

Advance word...

Amazon has just listed my new book-- Airtight: http://www.amazon.com/Airtight-ebook/dp/B0081SA4Y0/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?i... And links to my back catalogue, all now returning both...

May.10.2012 - 6:09 am

My review of Roberto Bolano's The Secret of Evil...

...is here: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/jpsmith/2012/05/review-of-the-secret-of-evil-by-roberto-bolano/

Apr.20.2012 - 1:44 pm

Looking towards November

In the coming months my page at Red Room will change in many ways. As Airtight will be published on November 20th, all of my previous novels, shown here on Red Room, will be...

Comments from J.P.

Mar.12.2011 - 1:12 pm

In response to: England Blog

Thank you, Marissa!

Oct.02.2010 - 8:07 pm

In response to: The Apple

You can by all means write

You can by all means write an original screenplay; but more often than not, it--if it's good and gets the attention of...

Oct.02.2010 - 6:12 pm

In response to: The Apple

I'm sorry I didn't make

I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear. I only meant that writing on spec--writing a script or a novel for no money in...

Oct.02.2010 - 4:41 pm

In response to: The Apple

It doesn't really work that

It doesn't really work that way, Karen. The production company I'm currently working with hasn't paid me a single cent...

Oct.02.2010 - 11:43 am

In response to: The Apple

Thanks, Karen! No, this is a

Thanks, Karen! No, this is a different company and a different project; that other one, as so often happens, went by...

Follow J.P.’s tweets

Still doing line edits. Eerily, I still love this book. — 1 day 20 hours ago

About J.P.

I was born in New York City and raised five minutes from the Bronx. Once I'd completed my graduate work I returned to teach at my alma mater, Scarborough School. During my four years there I completed a novel a year and, because in the Seventies it was...

Read full bio »

Connections

Causes J.P. Smith Supports

Authors Guild

PEN America