About this title: One of McCall Smith's particular talents is his ability to portray archetypes without resorting to stereotype or cliche. Thus we immediately recognise the Edinburgh chartered surveyor, stalwart of the Conservative Association, who dreams of membership to Muirfield golf club. We have the pushy Stockbridge mother, and her prodigiously talented five ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400079445ISBN:1400079446
Description: Good. 138-U Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 2005-06-14
ISBN-13:9781400079445ISBN:1400079446
Description: Good. Pages are a little wavy on top from 170-270. There was a little water spill otherwise in great shape. No writing, tears or marks. Cover has minimal wear. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400079445ISBN:1400079446
Description: McIntosh, Iain. Good. No dust jacket as issued. 325 pgs w/some dampstaing, in gd reading condition; cover has some wear. A delightful and witty portrait of Edinburgh society. First published as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper. read more
Description: Fine. 1400079446 Perfect spine-no creases, unread tight copy, has very minor edge/shelf wear on cover, Great Book. ** Satisfaction Guaranteed ** Orders ship same or next business day. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 2005-06-14
ISBN-13:9781400079445ISBN:1400079446
Description: Fair. Front cover has been bent and chunks of pages are bent as well. Every heavytail order includes with a sweet! We carefully hand clean and reinspect each and every item we ship. Our quality control process ensures items to be in the condition described or better. Heavytail is determined to earn your repeat business through old fashioned customer service. We love international orders. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Anchor, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781400079445ISBN:1400079446
Description: Good. 1400079446 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
"A nice bit of lighter reading in amidst a busy part of my life. Having enjoyed the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency ones I have read I thought I would look at soem of the rest of this author's writings.
I loved the pace this novel - it is just about the pace of real life itself. It has some lovely little gems, secreted away within the overall story framework of the folk who live at the address of the title, in these the author captures some part of human nature or some social phenomenon eg the arogance of rugy playing, ladies man Bruce - the section where he is meeting with Will, the wine merchant, trying to land a job in the trade, showing off about his knowledge of wine, or actually his lack of it - I found this very realistic - just how many times have I heard folks dismiss chardonnay and admire champange.
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series especially the one about Bertie - I hope we go on to discover the lost little boy that is somewhere within the clearly very bright young child, being pushed by his over assertive mother to learn Italian and play the saxaphone, and although he is quite capable of these, all he wants is a friend with whom to play with trains. Yes the world according to Bertie should provide very interesting perspective to the residents of 44 Scotland Street."
"Yet another series by McCall Smith to love. This particular book tells the interweaving stories of the people who live at 44 Scotland Street, from the narcissistic Bruce to the super-controlling mom Irene and her genius (and adorable) five-year-old son Bertie, who, at his mom's insistence, is learning Italian, doing yoga, and going to therapy . . . I liked most of the story threads and I'm particularly fond of Pat and Bertie. Although nothing hugely significant happens in this first volume, I enjoyed seeing the characters interactions and reading about their small daily triumphs and tragedies. And I had a sort of train-wreck fascination with Irene's self-denial and couldn't help rooting for Bertie, who, despite his intelligence only wants to be a boy and climb trees and watch trains and have friends. (For other fans of Bertie, you'll want to keep reading the series, as things do get better.)"
"I am reading these out of sequence, having begun with The World According to Bertie (#4), and followed that with Love Over Scotland (#3). Of course, I will be reading Espresso Tales (#2) on the plane ride back from Victoria, where I am hiding out this summer. (I hide out here every summer.)
44 Scotland Street is the first in this series of books created out of installments in The Scotsman. As such, it is an introduction to most of the people we will be following, which is probably why this book gets three stars instead of four. It's engaging and charming, but I'm glad I didn't read this one first. The more fully developed characters of later on are more beguiling. Still a light, undemanding, and enjoyable read, much along the lines of Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie series (which I have read in order and intend to read the latest either on the plane home, or as a condolence for having arrived)."
"Yeah! One of my favorite books of all time! This is the beginning of a series that started as a dare: AMS was challenged to write a story a day for The Scotsman newspaper. And this is the product of that dare. No one should be able to write this well that quickly, but miraculously AMS manages it with supreme ease. It is a charming collection of short chapters, each one dealing with a resident of 44 Scotland Street. If I try to describe the book it won't be very enticing, but everyone who has read it has loved it and become addicted to it. I've even been sent to Scotland to pick up the early copies of the next in the series. You'll find yourself rooting for characters and feeling intrigued or revolted by others. And you end up loving them all because AMS finds something worth loving in everyone. With the exception of Bruce... actually I love you too, Bruce. Read it. Read it. Read it."
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