Understanding Women: A Novel. Atlanta

A better title for this book would be "Understanding Teenage Boys." Smith paints an uncannily accurate and, at times, necessarily graphic portrait of a boy on the verge of manhood: his lustful yet naive vision of women, his competitive edginess with other young bucks (including a memorable fight scene), and his quest for knowledge and acceptance from older men. A five-star character sketch, this book gives up a notch for failings of plot-- it's really a stretched short story. The writing is brilliant at times but inconsistent, and the narrative voice skips jarringly at times between that of the teenager and the older man looking back. Nonetheless, a fine read full of truths.