About the Author

NOBLE SMITH is an award-winning playwright who has worked as a video game writer, a documentary film executive producer, and the media director of an international human rights foundation. His novel Sons of Zeus was published in 2013 by Thomas Dunne Books. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and children.

Reviews

"How to live long and prosper, Hobbit-style. ... A life-affirming, must-have morsel for Tolkien's colossal fan base." --Kirkus Reviews "Delves into Middle-earth to show us how Tolkien can instruct us how to live a better life on Regular-earth." --The Boston Globe "Smith urges hobbit-wannabes to embrace the original small-is-beautiful lifestyle -- grow your own food, walk everywhere. And sing. -- Even to love Tolkien-style!" --USA Today "A definitive guide to Tolkien's worldview." --Wired.com "A splendidly fun guide to life . . . a constant companion. I'd recommend it to anyone!" --TheHobbitMovie.co.uk "Previous readers of Tolkien may suddenly crave a reread of their favorite passages (or favorite books!), and those who have never cracked the spine of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings might suddenly have the urge to curl up with one of the books after having read The Wisdom of the Shire." --Middle-earth News "Funny, insightful, thought provoking and a thoroughly enjoyable read." --TheOneRing.net "For the Tolkien enthusiast, Wisdom of the Shire is a gentle book that will remind you of all the things you love about Tolkien's work, with practical ways of making them part of your everyday life." --Amazing Stories "Smith, a playwright and film producer, shrewdly connects spiritual writing to the popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy work...A fine companion to the Hobbit movies for the fantasy reader or spiritual seeker." --Library Journal "Noble Smith reminds us that we can all be as constantly surprising as the Hobbits." --Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn and the introduction to The Lord of the Rings "I haven't had too many 'Personal Gollums' in my life but the next time I happen upon one I will take Noble Smith's book out and thumb through it like a manual. My only fear is that I will find someone doing the same thing to figure out how to deal with me. Such a fun book!" --Ty Burrell, Emmy winning star of Modern Family "Good books transport us, great books transform us. Noble Smith was clearly transformed by reading J. R. R. Tolkien's classic novels, and this book is the delightful result. It's a humorous but impassioned celebration of enduring values, worthy sacrifices, and simple pleasures. You can't beat that combination, either in the novels or in this irresistible homage." --Mark Salzman, author of Iron and Silk "It is one of history's great ironies that in the creation of The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien - an Oxford Anglo-Saxon professor and one of the least 'hip' inhabitants on earth - gave the revolutionary '60s New Age, Back-to-the-Land counter-culture its most celebrated and enduring anti-hero. The Wisdom of the Shire brings us back to essential philosophy of creatures that were - as Tolkien stated - 'more in touch with nature, and abnormally, for humans, free from ambition, greed or wealth.' Noble Smith takes the reader on a journey of discovery of the Hobbit's 'small is beautiful' philosophy, and dovetails it to today's environmental axiom to 'act locally and think globally'. Smith shows us how the humane principles of the Hobbit philosophy have not only survived the vogue and politics of the sixties, but retain their soundness as the most sensible and sustainable route to true happiness for the 21st Century Everyman." --David Day, author of A Tolkien Bestiary and Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia

Smith, a playwright and film producer, shrewdly connects spiritual writing to the popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy work, likely to crest once again with the release of the first of three movies based on The Hobbit. While charming, the book falls somewhat victim to the dangers of spirituality-from-a-book thinking: since Tolkien's book was not (explicitly not, since Tolkien was a devout Christian) scripture, but a narrative, it occasionally strains credulity to draw conclusions from the hobbits' adventures. Nor does Smith present especially deft literary criticism. VERDICT A sweet offering unlikely to stand up to careful analysis, this is nonetheless a fine companion to the Hobbit movies for the fantasy reader or spiritual seeker. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.