The Lost Art of Gratitude_ An Isabel Dalhousie Novel - Alexander McCall Smith [0]
“Charmingly told.… Its graceful prose shines, and Isabel’s interior monologues—meditations on a variety of moral questions—are bemused, intelligent and entertaining.”
—The Seattle Times
“Genial.… Wise.… Glows like a rare jewel.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Full of his insightful but gentle examinations of human nature.… Paints [a] rich portrait of Edinburgh.”
—Rocky Mountain News
“Endearing.… Offers tantalizing glimpses of Edinburgh’s complex character and a nice, long look into the beautiful mind of a thinking woman.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Habit-forming.… Leaves plenty of time for pondering moral conundrums, the drinking of steaming cups of hot brew (coffee, in this case) and … gentle probing into the human condition.”
—The Oregonian
“Whimsical.… [A] memorable cast of characters.… McCall Smith’s assessments of fellow humans are piercing and profound.… [His] depictions of Edinburgh are vivid and seamless.… His fans … are sure to embrace these moral peregrinations among the plaid.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“A witty, ruminative and wise examination of the things that comfort and sustain us.”
—The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
“Skillfully written.… Smith’s Scotland … is a place where a profound, humane intelligence is at work.”
—New York Daily News
“Utterly charming.… Alexander McCall Smith often celebrates the best of humanity—its compassion, its intuition, its empathy.”
—The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin)
Alexander McCall Smith
THE LOST ART OF GRATITUDE
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics.
www.alexandermccallsmith.com
BOOKS BY ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH
IN THE ISABEL DALHOUSIE SERIES
The Sunday Philosophy Club
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
The Right Attitude to Rain
The Careful Use of Compliments
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
The Lost Art of Gratitude
The Charming Quirks of Others
IN THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
The Double Comfort Safari Club
IN THE PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS SERIES
Portuguese Irregular Verbs
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
IN THE 44 SCOTLAND STREET SERIES
44 Scotland Street
Espresso Tales
Love Over Scotland
The World According to Bertie
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
Corduroy Mansions
La’s Orchestra Saves the World
The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa
FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2010
Copyright © 2009 by Alexander McCall Smith
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Published in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in Great Britain by Little, Brown, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, London, and subsequently published in hardcover in the United States by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2009.
Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Excerpts from poems by W. H. Auden appear courtesy of Edward Mendelson, Executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden, and Random House, Inc.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Pantheon edition as follows:
McCall Smith, Alexander.