| 44 Scotland Street | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $13.94 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 6693
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 1400079446
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781400079445
ASIN: 1400079446
Publication Date: June 14, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
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| Customer Reviews:
 hilarious May 21, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is absolutely hilarious. The characters, while apparently quintessentially Scottish, are easily relatable to anyone of any nationality in that you sit there and think, "I know someone exactly like that!" You do not have to be from Edinburgh to find this book laugh-out-loud funny. True, there is not much of a resolution at the end, but this book is one of the few instances where the writing is the point, not the plot (which is enjoyable on its own anyway). I can't wait to read the sequel.
A very enjoyable read February 22, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I really liked this book. It was a joy to read. The characters are interesting and unpredictable. Also, it's been a while since I've laughed out loud while reading a book, but I did so with this one.
A gentle and humorous look at life from many angles February 20, 2007
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
Alexander McCall Smith has the rare talent of being able to see people as they see themselves. This ensemble book introduces us to many different characters, from a young woman searching for meaning in a life that seems out of control to an accidental philosopher to the hapless head of the Edinburgh Conservative party. Some are deep and interesting characters, others are simple and shallow. But whoever they are, when Smith describes their thoughts and actions even the characters who in the hands of another author would be contemptible are shown to be victims of their own foibles and outlook. That doesn't mean that there are no bad guys; Anyone who has known a lunkhead jock or over-ambitious mother will immediately recognize Bruce and Irene. But no one is a villain in their own mind, and the beauty of these books is that you can almost identify with everyone in them. Almost. Not quite though.
"44 Scotland Street" was actually written as a newspaper serial, something that I haven't personally run into before. It was published in "The Scotsman" in Edinburgh in daily increments, and in the preface Smith points out that one consequence was that once a chapter was written, it could never be revised - it had been published and read already! He also points out that by publishing daily each chapter had to have a point of action, and to give the impression that more events were in the offing. Perhaps it's just my personal preference, but the pace that this forced was very enjoyable. It's not a novel with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter, but it is a book where something happens every chapter.
Smith seems to have enjoyed the experience enough to continue the stories in a second serial, which has now been collected together into "Espresso Tales". I for one definitely plan to buy it.
wonderful audio book February 14, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
My family (ages 10, 14, 40+) listened to this series with great interest. The intertwined plots and cliff hanger style was great fun in the car and when performing chores. We can't wait for the third book.
Tales of the Scotland City February 11, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Taking a cue from Armistead Maupin's, "Tales of the City", Alexander McCall Smith has written a charming, witty, and oftentimes very insider portrait of a small group of inhabitants at 44 Scotland Place. Like Maupin, Smith cobbles together a little over a half dozen characters and sets them free to interact. A departure from his excellent Detective Ladies series, it never quite reached the level of those books to me, however it has enough of it's own charm and wit to easily recommend it.
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