The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs

Written by Alexander McCall Smith

Narrated by Paul Hecht

With millions of copies of his New York Times best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency mysteries in print across the globe, Alexander McCall Smith is one of the most popular novelists and humorists in the world. Starring the brilliant but bumbling Professor Doctor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs is a wonderfully entertaining showcase for Smith's award-winning wit. Invited to lecture in America, von Igelfeld envisions a visit to California or New York. Instead, he finds himself surrounded by hogs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 15, 2008
• ISBN: 9781440795541

Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the award-winning series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he now devotes his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. He is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, and his work has been translated into forty-six languages. Before becoming a full-time writer he was for many years Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh.

Reviews for The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs

[jjvors_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once more, [Alexander McCall Smith], author of the No 1 Ladies' Detective series, tickles my funny bone in another series involving Professor Dr. Igelfeld, master philologist of mideval romance languages, noted for his seminal work, "Portuguese Irregular Verbs". In this book, [[The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs]], Dr Igelfeld is pressed into service as an emergency vetinary surgeon, a courier for Father Christmas' bones, and as an entertaining lecturer on a cruise ship. Just when you think the ridiculous meets the sublime, the sublime become ridiculous.

[jon1lambert · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A kind of cult book with a cult title - fun and interesting to read but , for me, forgettable

[themulhern · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A gentle satire of academia. It is, in parts, quite funny.

[fingerpost_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Frequently laugh-out-loud funny, Professor of Philology Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of Germany is quite the entertaining character. Iglefeld sees himself as the epitome of scholarship, and his ego gets him into some hilarious situations. His trip to Arkansas is the funniest stretch of the book, though his experiences in the Vatican library, and on a lecture cruise ship are close seconds. The humor is in the writing. Smith knows just how to word something to make it funny.This short book isn't so much a novel, as a series of episodes. The events of each episode are largely unrelated to the events of another, so one comes away almost feeling that one has read a short story collection rather than a novel. It is also refreshingly peaceful. Like Smith's Ladies Number 1 Detective Agency series, the book is free of evildoers, and makes for a pleasant and relaxing read.

[carlym_35 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was OK, but I doubt it would have been published if Smith hadn't already written other popular books. He pokes fun at Germans and academics while telling the story of Professor Dr. Dr. von Igelfeld, a professor of Portuguese linguistics. Dr. von Igelfeld gets into trouble when he arrives at an Arkansas college to give a lecture and discovers that the college has confused him with a professor of veterinary medicine. Instead of explaining the problem, he lectures on sausage dogs. Mild amusement ensues.

[tundra_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Somewhat slow..but it is kind of great actually. Especially when read with an accent.

[ethelmertz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very funny! I listened to this book while on a long drive. I laughed aloud several times.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Prof. von Igelfeld, an expert on Portuguese language, has a rivalry with one of his colleagues which caues him to get into unusual situations. He is mistakenly booked to speak to a group in Arkansas who believes him to be an expert on sausage dogs. Later he transports bones for a Coptic Church official. Finally his cruise lecture series leads to a group of female admirers. While there is a thread which ties the stories together, the work seems a little disjointed. It was an "okay read," but not a great one.

[teckelvik · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I got this book because I love the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, and I love Dachshunds. I found it very disappointing. The book is supposed to be a satire of academics, and it is, in a very gentle way. The main character is a German professor of Romance languages, who seriously believes that the rest of the world is as fascinated by Portuguese irregular verbs as he is. There are several volumes in this series about his bewildered interaction with people outside his beloved institute.The problem is that the satire is too gentle, and the humor too dry. It's odd, and sweet, but nothing more. There's no bite to it, and satire without bite is, well, boring.In addition, the Sausage Dog of the title is first abused (the professor accidentally amputates three of its legs) and then handed over to a religious cult that wants to worship its bones when it dies. (Don't ask, really. I'm a religious studies major, and I winced at how offensive this section is to the Copts.) This is all played for laughs (of the very dry and gentle kind). Obviously, I didn't' think this was funny at all.I did have a good time imagining how entertaining this book could have been if Mr. Smith actually knew any sausage dogs. Any Dachshund I have ever met would take on the professor, take over his life and home, commandeer his food supply, and convince him to enjoy the experience. Watching the professor mull over Portuguese etymology while his Dachshund manipulates him from underfoot could have been very, very funny.

[theghostis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An absolutely hilarious book.

[quincidence · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Truly humorous as to showing the shortsightedness of the mundane and intelligent. The story and the character is easy to follow, easy to love, misunderstand and want to hand a clue-by-four. His adorable arrogance, his spunky loyalty to Germany, and his simple life all make for a easy read that leaves you smiling.Alexander McCall Smith leaves us with one more charming book.