Espresso Tales [Audio CD]

Alexander McCall Smith (Author), Robert Ian MacKenzie (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2006

Alexander McCall Smith’s many fans will be pleased with this latest installment in the bestselling 44 Scotland Street series.
 
Back are all our favorite denizens of a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh. Bertie the immensely talented six year old is now enrolled in kindergarten, and much to his dismay, has been clad in pink overalls for his first day of class. Bruce has lost his job as a surveyor, and between admiring glances in the mirror, is contemplating becoming a wine merchant. Pat is embarking on a new life at Edinburgh University and perhaps on a new relationship, courtesy of Domenica, her witty and worldly-wise neighbor. McCall Smith has much in store for them as the brief spell of glorious summer sunshine gives way to fall a season cursed with more traditionally Scottish weather.

Full of McCall Smith’s gentle humor and sympathy for his characters, Espresso Tales is also an affectionate portrait of a city and its people who, in the author’s own words, “make it one of the most vibrant and interesting places in the world.”

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McCall Smith is such a prolific author that he needs at least three readers to keep up with him. The series that transpire in Scotland have two performers. Davina Porter narrates the Sunday Philosophy Club series while Mackenzie performs the series about 44 Scotland Street. Porter is the better performer as she catches the various cadences of Edinburgh's middle class. Mackenzie's characters sound pretty much alike in terms of their accents, with the exception of Angus's hearty brogue. Its also annoying that some of the women are given the same tiny voices used for a six-year-old genius. Best is Mackenzie's over-the-top enactment of Lard, a Glaswegian gangster and his cohorts with their barely comprehensible street slang and thick accents. The major problem with this production is the lugubrious pace of the narration. Although Espresso Tales is the second book in a series, the audio helpfully provides two summaries of characters and events at the beginning. Despite the reader's lack of pep, the author's sly, gentle humor shines through and makes this audio charming and engaging.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This is the second volume of a serial novel that the author has been publishing in The Scotsman about a group of loosely connected people living in present-day Edinburgh. The most interesting character for teen readers is Bertie Pollock, a precocious six-year-old who is being forced by his mother to study Italian, play the saxophone, take yoga, and endure psychoanalysis because of his understandable rebellion against her efforts to prevent him from being an ordinary boy. Bertie and his father grow closer and eventually assert their independence. Mrs. Pollock, meanwhile, has her own moments of revelation as she discovers that the analyst is not as perfect as she thought. The other stories revolve around a coffee-shop owner and some of her patrons and the residents of 44 Scotland Street, who were the subjects of the first book. Many of the characters are strikingly flawed, but McCall Smith eventually finds some redeeming, human side to them. He examines Scottish culture, from would-be art and wine dealers to raincoat-wearing nudists and members of the Scottish mafia. The relationships among the characters grow in unexpected and touching ways. The author has a critical yet forgiving eye for human failings. This novel is a prose poem about the small things in life that are being threatened by globalization and mass entertainment.–Will Marston, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Recorded Books (July 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419396145
• ISBN-13: 978-1419396144
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Series Rivals No. 1 Ladies', September 7, 2006

By 

Miami Bob "Resurgent Reading" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Espresso Tales: A 44 Scotland Street Novel (2) (Paperback)

Once again, McCall Smith takes us to visit with the 44 Scotland Street neighborhood. This time, we learn much more about Bertie - the extremely precocious 6-year old - and his conflicts with his incredibly clingy mother Irene. And, we actually hear his father speak up and do something other than read the newspaper. The meetings with Bertie's psychiatrist are again entertaining as is the doctor's attempt to reach catharsis with his most famous patient.

And, we hear Domenica speak about globalization. Matthew shows us he can do something right, and then we meet his father and his potential nuptial mate. Cyrus' dog bites the people who deserve it. Cyrus gives a great party at the end. Pat, after two gap years, decides to attend university. Bruce as a failed person fails in business - or does he? And more.

But, McCall Smith tells us he wrote this book to find closure from the previous book "44 Scotland Street." Here he failed. And, failed miserably. And, thank our lucky stars he is such a failure.

This group of eccentrics is fast making books which rival his beloved No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. At the end, we ask for more. What is going to happen to Domenica in her quest to seek pirates? Or, what will happen to Bruce in London? Or, how is Pat going to handle her first year at university after not one, but two, gap years? And, will Matthew accept his father's new bride, if there is to even be one?

If you are thinking of reading this book, do so. But, I highly recommend that you first read "44 Scotland Street" so as to acquaint yourself to the characters and their surroundings.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe his best yet, August 8, 2006

By 

Bearette24 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Espresso Tales: A 44 Scotland Street Novel (2) (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed Espresso Tales, Alexander McCall Smith's followup to 44 Scotland Street...and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, which he is now writing.

I thought 44 Scotland Street was weakened a little by the sheer number of characters, but here the focus seemed tighter. We get to reunite with Bertie, the boy genius who just wants to be a regular kid; Bruce, the indefatigable narcissist; Pat, the understated gallery worker/college student; Matthew, who has now made a profit at the gallery, and has his gentle eye on Pat; Domenica, the sharp-tongued elderly woman who may be a porteparole for McCall Smith himself; and Angus, the eccentric painter whose dog, Cyril, gets a charming chapter of his own.

Everything that happened to these characters just seemed right, and it was such an enjoyable ride.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chuckles on every page, December 28, 2006

By 

Blue in Washington "Barry Ballow" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Espresso Tales: A 44 Scotland Street Novel (2) (Paperback)

Mccall Smith is truly amazing. He has at least four book series going and all contain strikingly original and interesting characters. I happened to like the "Espresso Tales" sequel to "44 Scotland Street" somewhat better than the original. It's got more piquancy and snap and its ironies are sharper and often funnier. The resolutions of Bernie the Kid's painful problems with his yuppie mother and his much hated psychologist are delicious, but there are a host of other comeuppances that Mccall Smith hilariously tosses in here that are wonderful. This is a great airplane read--which is appropriate, since it is said that the author often creates most of these short novels on transatlantic flights of his own.