| Espresso Tales | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $2.49
You Save: $11.46 (82%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 20926
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0307275973
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.917
EAN: 9780307275974
ASIN: 0307275973
Publication Date: July 11, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Sublime improvisation - perhaps more classical than jazz! October 15, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is the second of the Scotland Street serial which has run daily in the Edinburgh newspaper, The Scotsman, and it betrays its origins more obviously than the first of the series (44 Scotland Street). 44 Scotland forms a near-miraculous whole - astonishing in a kind of writing which is very much like improvisation in that one cannot possibly know at the beginning how, or if, the ending will round out satisfactorily. I want to revise my earlier opinion to say that as I've reflected on Espresso Tales, it also has many threads which are tied into a satisfactory conclusion, and one in particular which MUST be resolved in Love Over Scotland! It does have more "slow spots" than 44 (notably the 8 mercifully brief Ramsey Dunbarton sections, which dragged a bit for me). But that is a small matter, all things considered.
Amazing things happen! Bertie escapes (but not in the chapter so titled)! Stuart asserts himself! Pat makes several important decisions. Bruce...is nearly wiped out but Lands On His Feet Again, as Bruce is wont to do. Matthew grows up rather a lot! Cyril the dog Bites An Important Ankle (To Rounds of Applause)! Big Lou stands up to a charming intellectual snob, and gets an important letter. I feel like I am writing the weekly soap opera summary!
But these books rise far above that level. On the first read, they are so entertaining that one does not always notice the deeper layers that emerge on re-reading.
For example, without introducing a spoiler, I can say that Big Lou's moral philosophizing with Matthew and Angus offers important insight into Matthew's relationship with his dad, and ultimately with his dad's girlfriend Janis. Matthew's change in his view of Janis is an important part of his growing up - but he still has further to go, and we shall see in Love Over Scotland how his suspicions about "gold-digging women" turn out to affect his own life.
If you enjoyed 44 Scotland, you must read this one...even though improvisations are not always perfect, they are like juggling, and it's amazing how many of the balls are caught in this continuing McCall Smith act. He wanted to stop after this one, but Edinburgh dwellers persuaded him to continue for at least one more book. I can't wait! As I think more deeply about this book as a whole, and the connections beneath the surface, I must give it 5 stars, despite my earlier reservations. (now why can't I change that from the Edit page? gr)
 Edinburgh great and small October 13, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Espresso Tales is the sequel to 44 Scotland Street, featuring the inhabitants of a multifamily house at that address in Edinburgh, Scotland. The form of both books is rambling and linear, forgivably so in this case as they were originally released in serial form in the Scotsman newspaper.
In 44 Scotland Street, the main character was clearly Pat, a college-age young woman who was a little adrift in her life. Her encounters with her neighbors and at work formed the context for the stories in the book. In Espresso Tales, Pat is much less the main character. The book's focus shifts aimlessly between Pat, Bertie, the gifted kindergartener and his family, and other characters. Pat and Bertie's stories engage me more than others and I was impatient at times waiting for their turn in the spotlight.
A great part of the charm derives from the immense amount of detail provided of daily life in Edinburgh. This information is provided not in an encyclopedic way but in loving detail the way a portrait miniature would be painted. The characters are "types", but not stereotypes. Big Lou, the rough-spoken woman who runs the coffee shop has been reading philosophy on her own, and bristles when her intellectual customers patronize her. Not only does she "ken well" who Sisyphus was, she's read the Camus book about him, which is more than her educated customer can say.
If you enjoy Scotland, or enjoy the gentle charm of McCall Smith's writing, you'll enjoy this series. But start with 44 Scotland Street or you'll have trouble catching up.
Another engaging book from Alexander McCall Smith July 29, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This story was a fun, easy read with lots of good character development and interest to keep the pages turning. As usual, Mr. Smith has colorful, interesting characters, that pull you into their lives and cause you to psychoanalyze your own motives.
 Savory July 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I actually had to pace myself, because I didn't want to finish to quickly and leave these wonderful characters of 44 Scotland Street. So many characters are gems, but the story that seems to hold the most interest is poor young Bertie and his overbearing monster of a mother. Can't wait for the third book this fall, and the knowledge that we'll luckily get to be with these interesting and offbeat inhabitants for a bit longer.
Another fun read by a prolific author May 13, 2007
Alexander Mccall Smith has again produced another amusing tale with the characters of 44 Scotland Street. This sequel appeared as a column in "The Scotsman" and captures the lives of a diverse group of people. Smith's characters intrigue you--with all their idiosyncrasies and day-to-day dilemmas. Fun and light reading.
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