Ali's Flair in Love and War

In THE BALLAD OF SPEEDBALL BABY, Ali Smith--punk rock darling turned photographer turned memoirist--sings a paean to the East Village, bad lovers, far-flung travel, and her 90s band, Speedball Baby.

Photo of Ali playing bass ©Lynda Cohen

If you were to meet Ali Smith¹ today, in her cozy home an hour outside London, it might be hard to reconcile the thoughtful artist/mother/wife and now writer she’s become—discussing her son’s new school’s emphasis on knitting, a recent photography assignment for The Guardian, her husband’s midlife career pivot from j…