The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs

Every book that Alexander McCall Smith has written is everything I enjoy in an author. He combines so many characters in such a way that it's almost disappointing when it ends but then happily there are more of his books to read. I've enjoyed every one of his books immensely.

Wow what a book, and what a writer. After i read the books about Mma Ramotswe and her friends i bought this book about the funny dr. von Igelfeld... And I enjoyed it from page one. The absurd problems dr. von Igelfeld is facing, is enjoyable to read and puts a smile on your face while you're reading this book. I bought this book on CD and that makes it even funnier, with Hugh Laurie reading makes it a funny experience :o)

von Igelfeld has got to be one of the most pompous and endearing characters that I have ever read. He has to give a lecture on a subject he knows nothing about and then he goes on a mission for a member of the Coptic Church. All of the stories are equally hilarious but the part about the sausage dogs (when it finally appears) is as horrifying as it is funny. Overall-Don't let my bland review turn you off to the book it really is very good.

Like many readers, I have come to this book as a result of reading Alexander McCall Smith's "Number One Ladies Detective Agency Series". Beware, there is very little in common between the two series. The Number One Ladies Detective Series is very accesable to the general reading public. The three novels of the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series are less accessable. The main reason is that McCall Smith's humor is very dry. The delivery is so subtle as to border on the sublime. This sort of absurdist humor about academic life is not for everyone. If you like your humor direct and to the point, this is not the series for you. If you like your humor really dry, this series is a delight. However, if you are not sure, start the series with "The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs", the best of the three novels.

In this installment in the life of self-absorbed and unworld-wise philologist von Igelfeld, he is first mistaken for a German veterinarian, Dr Martin Igelfold, on a visit to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he is to give a speech (The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs). Later, this error in identification, which von Igelfeld does not correct, results in disaster (A Leg to Stand on). Next, von Igelfeld becomes quite distressed when his colleague, Dr Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer, writes an unfavorable critique about von Igelfeld's precious book, Portuguese Irregular Verbs. He goes to extremes (how surprising) to undermine his critic and, as usual, makes matters worse for a time (On the Couch). Then there's the trip to Italy for the month of August with friends Professor Dr Dr Florianus Prinzel and his wife, Ophelia. During his travels, he meets some interesting characters and takes on a monumental responsibility which, of course, he handles badly (The Bones of Father Christmas). Finally, he decides to go on a lecture cruise, not because he likes them or is honored to have been invited to lecture (actually, he hates cruises), but because both Unterholzer and Prinzel declare how delighted each would be to take his place. What transpires is true von Igelfeld! (The Perfect Imperfect) If you expect the von Igelfeld series to be the same as The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, you are in error. They are very different, but McCall Smith's sense of humor and masterful writing will keep you very well entertained! Carolyn Rowe Hill

The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs picks up where Portuguese Irregular Verbs leaves off. The books are not so much self-contained stories as they are collections of stories. Hilarious stories about our protagonist, the Romance philologist Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, his colleagues, and their adventures in the arcane world of Romance philology. Dr von Igelfeld finagles a visit to the US as a guest lecturer, as always, in search of the recognition he so ardently desires. Unfortunately, the exchange program he worked with got him mixed up with a Dr Igelfold, who is in quite a different field of study. Von Igelfeld bluffs his way through his lecture, but is then forced to operate on a sausage dog, with pretty gruesome results. The dog becomes a main player in another story, this one of shadow and intrigue in the Coptic Church under the watchful "ten thousand eyes" of Rome. And so it goes as we follow Dr von Igelfeld around the globe on misadventure after misadventure, as he tries to handle each sticky situation with Teutonic aplomb. I laughed out loud, and I wasn't even feeling like laughing when I picked the book up. Like the other books in this series (At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances is the third), "Sausage Dogs" is very short and light to read. Make sure you read all three!