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Portuguese Irregular Verbs

by Alexander M Smith

Portuguese Irregular Verbs Cover

ISBN13: 9781400077083
ISBN10: 1400077087
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A deliciously entertaining new series by the bestselling author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

The many fans of Precious Ramotswe will find further cause for celebration in the protagonist of Alexander McCall Smith’s irresistibly funny trilogy, the eminent (if shamefully under-read) philologist Professor Dr. Mortiz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute at Regensburg. Unnaturally tall, hypersensitive to slights, and oblivious to his own frequent gaucheries, von Igelfeld is engaged in a never-ending quest to win the respect he knows is due him.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs follows the Professor from a busman’s holiday researching old Irish obscenities to a flirtation with a desirable lady dentist. In The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, von Igelfeld practices veterinary medicine without a license, transports relics for a schismatically challenged Coptic prelate and is mobbed by marriage-minded widows on board a Mediterranean cruise ship. In At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances, the final novel in the trilogy, we find our hero suffering the slings of academic intrigue as a visiting fellow at Cambridge, and the slings of outrageous fortune in an eventful Columbian adventure.

Review:

“In the halls of academe, a setting fraught with ego-driven battles for power and prestige [Alexander McCall Smith] has rendered yet another one-of-a-kind character: the bumbling but brilliant Dr. Mortiz-Maria von Igelfeld . . . . [a] deftly rendered trilogy [with] endearingly eccentric characters.” —Chicago Sun-Times

Synopsis:

Readers who fell in love with Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, now have new cause for celebration in the protagonist of these three light-footed comic novels by Alexander McCall Smith. Welcome to the insane and rarified world of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology. Von Igelfeld is engaged in a never-ending quest to win the respect he feels certain he is due–a quest which has the tendency to go hilariously astray.

In Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Professor Dr von Igelfeld learns to play tennis, and forces a college chum to enter into a duel that results in a nipped nose. He also takes a field trip to Ireland where he becomes acquainted with the rich world of archaic Irishisms, and he develops an aching infatuation with a Dentist fatale. Along the way, he takes two ill-fated Italian sojourns, the first merely uncomfortable, the second definitely dangerous.

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Debra Hamel/book-blog.com, February 19, 2007 (view all comments by Debra Hamel/book-blog.com)
Portuguese Irregular Verbs is one of only three books in Alexander McCall Smith's series featuring Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, author of the philological masterwork that gives this book its title.The eight stories included in this volume provide a great deal of background information about our hero. We learn, for example, about his friendship while a student with Florianus Prinzel, now his colleague. In the most poignant of the stories, Igelfeld attempts to beef up sales of his monograph. His quest for readers leads Igelfeld to the home of his nemesis, Detlev Unterholzer. The visit is initially infuriating, but after a moving discovery while browsing Unterholzer's bookshelves Igelfeld finds himself warming to the man. Alexander McCall Smith is a charming writer, and von Igelfeld a delightful character--pretentious and jealous and deeply flawed, but ultimately capable of goodness. The Igelfeld stories are delicious, quiet reads.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400077083
Author:
Smith, Alexander M
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Author:
Smith, Alexander McCall
Author:
Smith, Alexander McCall
Author:
McCall Smith, Alexander
Subject:
General
Subject:
Humorous
Subject:
College teachers
Subject:
Philologists
Edition Description:
Anchor Books
Publication Date:
December 2004
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
128
Dimensions:
7.98x5.28x.35 in. .30 lbs.
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