Every now and again, if you are a lucky reader, you come across writing that truly changes you. Smith wrote Intimations at the front end of 2020's "global humbling" - a time when America would become "mighty with death", when we would witness George Floyd's murder, when our every day took a shape we were helpless to control. It is a fierce little collection, but one that provides intellectual nourishment and hope, certain to inspire meaningful retrospection. How do we preoccupy ourselves? What is our time, and love, and existence? Is the true virus of our time - contempt for other human beings? Smith has donated all royalties of this book to The Equal Justice Initiative and The COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund for New York. ~ Reviewed by Nancy Scheemaker
