Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes
- Narrated by: Alan Bennett
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Buy Now for £7.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
Two unexpected tales written and read by the best-selling author of The Uncommon Reader, Untold Stories and The History Boys.
"The Greening of Mrs Donaldson" - Mrs Donaldson is a conventional middle-class woman beached on the shores of widowhood after a marriage that had been much like many others: happy to begin with, then satisfactory and finally dull. But when she decides to take in two lodgers, her mundane life becomes much more stimulating…
"The Shielding of Mrs Forbes" - Graham Forbes is a disappointment to his mother, who thinks that if he must have a wife, he should have done better. True, her own husband isn’t all that satisfactory either. Still, this is Alan Bennett, so what is happening in the bedroom (and in lots of other places too) is altogether more startling, perhaps shocking, and ultimately more true to people’s predilections.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Lesley Sherborne
- 13-04-13
Bennett delights as always.
Surprising stuff from Mr Bennett. Risqué and funny. Wonderful to hear Alan Bennett reading his own material.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 13-04-13
Excellent
Two more great stories from the master of 'people watchers'. Once again, Bennett's characters are on the fringes of their communities, looking for ways to 'fit in', although not quite managing it. Doesn't disappoint - Bennett fans will be delighted.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Welsh Mafia
- 08-09-11
Naughty, naughty
Both stories are great fun from start to finish and are the apotheosis of his front parlour hanky-panky delivered with a sure touch for the turn of phrase and twitch of net.
There are some great set-pieces, particularly a visit to a police station - “there’s coffee on the go, but you’ve just missed the croissants” and a strategically placed mobile phone.
Maybe it all fits together a little bit too snugly at the end, all the tops flattened and the corners tucked in - but ooh, I don’t know you can’t complain can you, I mean, two stories for the price of one........and wasn’t Alan thoughtful to read it to us as well, though I hear he’s not got that much else on at the moment, so he probably had a little bit of time on his hands and thought he might put it to good use. He always was a thoughtful boy...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Count Doodivonlinski
- 18-12-20
Bennett at his best !
If you love Alan Bennett you'll love this. Two glorious stories to keep you tickled pink.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jane Showering
- 08-05-14
anything by alan bennett is spell binding!
What made the experience of listening to Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes the most enjoyable?
the unexpected oddness of the tales told in such a matter of fact way
Who was your favorite character and why?
graham, i loved his sanguine take on life
Which character – as performed by Alan Bennett – was your favourite?
they are all so beautifully rounded and intimately described, i can't choose!
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
i don't know!
Any additional comments?
alan bennett is not only a magical writer but is the best reader ever, what a combination!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Simon Evers
- 17-01-12
Enormous fun
While listening to 'The Greening of Mrs Donaldson' walking down the road, I almost fell off the pavement I was laughing so much - and I certainly got some strange looks.
Such good entertainment - a lovely pair of unlikely stories, superb narration (as one always expects from Mr Bennett), great characters. My only regret is that there were only two of them!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Grammath
- 23-11-11
Alan Bennett by numbers.
Although subtitled Two Unseemly Stories, perhaps only Bennett's most prudish fans would find either The Greening of Mrs Donaldson or The Shielding of Mrs Forbes offensive. Perhaps more accurately, what the two stories share is that in neither case are surface appearances, in fact, what they seem.
Whilst enjoyable, I couldn't help the feeling that Smut was Alan Bennett by numbers: middle aged repressed ladies and their frightfully British take on propriety and marital relations being challenged. Its saving grace is, of course, that Bennett relates these stories himself, and surely there is noone better at reading his own work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carôle
- 18-08-23
My First Foray Into Alan Bennett
I thought the first story over long and the 2nd a comedy of errors! I didn’t like or dislike either tale - stories of ‘repressed Victorian’ women.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ditto do
- 24-04-15
Strangely familiar but unknown
Sir Alan' cosy tea cake voice delivering exactly what it says ion the tin, Smut. A bit rude, very funny and a mix of Bennett's bittersweet humour and a touch of the risqué make this an enjoyable listen. Perhaps not one for the car while travelling with my Thirteen year old Bennett fan!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Alison
- 24-09-11
Good value smut
If these 2 stories had been read by anyone other than Alan Bennett, they might just have been vulgar. But because he reads them, they manage to be both vulgar and funny. Very sly, too. I love everything he's ever written and narrated, and I did enjoy these stories though not quite as much as the genius of older (and longer) works. They aren't shocking, but they do venture into territory that I'd prefer not to listen to with my 14 year old in the room with me! A lovely treat listen, and I will listen again because as always, it's the details that make his work so enjoyable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!