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BOOK REVIEW

‘Smut’ by Alan Bennett

By Joseph Peschel

 |   

  December 28, 2011

In August, Nicholson Baker blurted out a new book, “House of Holes,’’ his adolescent-like narrative of the sexual escapades of several one-dimensional characters frolicking through an extended dirty joke that might’ve aptly been called “Smut.’’ “Smut,’’ though, happens to be the title of a new book by British writer Alan Bennett. If Baker’s sense of humor in “House’’ is unrestrained, and ahem, smutty, Bennett’s is subtle and often wry, full of clever word play, innuendo, and decidedly British.

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