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Dominic Smith

Goodreads Author

Born

in Brisbane, Australia

Website

http://www.dominicsmith.net

Twitter

writerdominic

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction

Influences

James Salter, Peter Carey

Member Since

January 2010

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Dominic grew up in Sydney, Australia and now lives in Seattle, Washington. He is the author of five novels, including The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. Dominic's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Chicago Tribune, Texas Monthly, The Australian, and The New York Times. He has received literature fellowships from the Australia Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. He teaches writing in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. More information can be found on his website: www.dominicsmith.net. ...more

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Dominic Smith My forthcoming novel, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2016) had its genesis ten years ago when I was living in Amsterdam. I …moreMy forthcoming novel, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2016) had its genesis ten years ago when I was living in Amsterdam. I have always been fascinated with 17th Dutch art but found it peculiar that very few paintings by women had survived. The Guild of St. Luke (which counted Rembrandt among its members) admitted some 25 women during the 1600s, but only a handful of artists have surviving works. Meanwhile, many women artists have been lost in the historical record--for centuries people through Judith Leyster's paintings were those of Frans Hals.

So my novel came out of imagining a 17th century landscape by a woman with a single surviving work. (Landscapes were never painted by 17th Dutch women because the form requires long hours spent outside.) The painting goes missing in 1950s New York. The novel weaves the stories of the 17th century painter (Sara de Vos), the contemporary inheritor, and an art historian who has made her career on the back of that single painting. She is curating an exhibition in 2000 when two copies of the same iconic painting show up.(less)

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As an author, what is the most difficult part of the writing and publishing process? What would you suggest to aspiring writer to do differently than what you have done?

Dominic Smith Hi Taylor,
The hardest part is revision--working out how to kill off the things that are holding back the book. That takes discipline and a certain kin…moreHi Taylor,
The hardest part is revision--working out how to kill off the things that are holding back the book. That takes discipline and a certain kind of willfulness. As far as advice for aspiring writers, I've been lucky enough not to have any major regrets in my publishing career. I would just say that reading widely and deeply is the most important prerequisite for writing. Thanks! (less)

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Dominic Smith’s books

Average rating: 3.85 · 36,982 ratings · 4,173 reviews · 16 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Last Painting of Sara de Vos 3.87 avg rating — 29,943 ratings — published 2016 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Return to Valetto 3.95 avg rating — 2,476 ratings — published 2023 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Electric Hotel 3.61 avg rating — 1,681 ratings — published 2019 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Beautiful Miscellaneous 3.58 avg rating — 1,293 ratings — published 2007	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bright and Distant Shores 3.71 avg rating — 847 ratings — published 2011 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre 3.74 avg rating — 742 ratings — published 2006 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bird and the Elephant: Philosophy for Young Minds 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sneeze Collector 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cómo dibujar comida súper linda: Libro de dibujo paso a paso fácil y divertido, libro de dibujo para principiantes 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bird and the Elephant: Philosophy for young minds by Dominic Smith (Goodreads Author), Jonathan Duck (illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Dominic Smith's Blog

My new essay about abandoned Italy

Now that Return to Valetto is out in the world, I'm happy to share an essay that went live last week over at LitHub: An Excellent View of Oblivion. Link is here: https://lithub.com/an-excellent-view-...

Thanks for reading!

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Published on June 23, 2023 07:07

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Dominic is Currently Reading

Dominic Smith is currently reading

Mindfulness in Plain English

by Henepola Gunaratana

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May 05, 2020 04:22PM

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Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

by Bill Burnett

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Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself

by Kristin Neff

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Feb 24, 2020 04:41PM

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Dominic’s Recent Updates

Dominic Smith is now friends with J.
Sep 07, 2023 08:00AM · like
Dominic Smith is now following Pasquale Toscano's reviews
Jul 02, 2023 04:49PM · like
Dominic Smith answered Patricia Zashkoff's question: Some time in April, I won a copy of Return To Valetta from Goodreads. I never received it. They said to contact you. Can you help me? I would love to read and review it. Thanks, Pat. (pat537@hotmail.com) Hi Pat, Sorry to hear that! I can see if I can help track it down from my publisher. Can you email me at dominic@dominicsmith.net and forward the notification you received about winning a copy? Then I can dig into it. Thanks! Dominic
Jun 25, 2023 06:19AM · like

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Quotes by Dominic Smith (?)

“They covered their walls with beautiful paintings for the same reason they drank—to distract themselves from the abyss.”
― Dominic Smith, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

13 likes

“She has no interest in the composition from ten or twenty feet—that will come later. What she wants is topography, the impasto, the furrows where sable hairs were dragged into tiny painted crests to catch the light. Or the stray line of charcoal or chalk, glimpsed beneath a glaze that’s three hundred years old. She’s been known to take a safety pin and test the porosity of the paint and then bring the point to her tongue. Since old-world grounds contain gesso, glue, and something edible—honey, milk, cheese—the Golden Age has a distinctively sweet or curdled taste. She is always careful to avoid the leads and the cobalts. What”
― Dominic Smith, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

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“The past is more alive to her than the present, she realizes, and the thought is suffocating.”
― Dominic Smith, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

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Polls

September 2023 Group Read - Father's Day: Male authors

Radio Girl by David Dufty

20 votes, 37.0%

The Secret Runners of New York by Matthew Reilly

18 votes, 33.3%

The Greater Good by Tim Ayliffe

9 votes, 16.7%

Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith

7 votes, 13.0%

54 total votes

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Dominic Smith’s Followers (646)

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Dominic Smith

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Dominic Smith's Blog

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