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1 Burnside Mystery- A to Z

The Kalahari Typing School for Men: More from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

by Alexander McCall Smith

The Kalahari Typing School for Men: More from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Cover

ISBN13: 9780375422171
ISBN10: 037542217x
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY.
FOR ALL CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND ENQUIRIES.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED FOR ALL PARTIES.
UNDER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT.

A beguiling mystery and lyrical novel of Africa — the fourth in a series that the L.A. Times calls "thoroughly engaging and entertaining."

Now that The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she's reached her late thirties ("the finest age to be"), has a house, two children, a good fiancé — Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni — and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems.

It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe's sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe's delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day? Follow the continuing story of Botswana's first lady detective in the irresistible The Kalahari Typing School for Men.

Review:

"The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswanan landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven't read anything with such unalloyed pleasure for a long time." Anthony Daniels, The Sunday Telegraph (U.K.)

Review:

"I was enchanted by the character of Precious Ramotswe and the sly humor of Alexander McCall Smith's writing, his deft evocation of a culture." Anthony Minghella, Academy Award-winning writer/director of The English Patient and Cold Mountain

Review:

"In spots, Kalahari feels a wee rushed....But if the new edition doesn't quite live up to the superior Morality for Beautiful Girls, it still brims with good humor and compassion. (Grade: B+)" Karen Valby, Entertainment Weekly

Review:

"Readers who haven't yet discovered Mma Ramotswe will enjoy discovering how her quiet humor, understated observation, and resolutely domestic approach to detection promise to put Botswana on the sleuthing map for good." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"A dose of easy humor laces the pages, as McCall Smith throws in wry observations....This is another graceful entry in a pleasingly modest and wise series." Publishers Weekly

Review:

"The fourth title in an internationally popular series...features an exotic African setting and charming, memorable characters. Recommended." Library Journal

Review:

"Reader, be warned: This is not your ordinary detective novel....The Kalahari Typing School for Men maintains the breezy-to-read, gentle tone of Smith's previous work, and leaves us wanting more adventures ASAP." Daneet Steffens, The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Synopsis:

Now that the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she's reached her late thirties ("the finest age to be"), has a house, two children, a good fiance, and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems.

Synopsis:

Now that the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride. But life is never without its problems, as she discovers in this fourth book in a series the L.A. Times calls "thoroughly engaging and entertaining."

Synopsis:

Academy Award-winning writer/director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, Cold Mountain), along with Sydney Pollack's company Mirage, will be producing The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency TV series with New Africa Media Films.
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About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith is a professor of medical law at Edinburgh University. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He is the author of more than fifty books: novels, children's books, a short story collection, and specialized titles such as Forensic Aspects of Sleep. He lives in Scotland.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
dwrites, June 8, 2011 (view all comments by dwrites)
Everything about these novels sings with a lightness and yet a depth that is irresistible. No one can read one of these books and not set it down occasionally to contemplate the deceptively simple, yet profound, truths about living together on this earth, and how to do it well, revealed in Precious Ramotswe's investigations and observations, or to simply have a chuckle about the strange circumstances and new points of view (to our American ears) of those who populate these books.

In this installment of the series, now-assistant-detective Mma Makutsi strikes out on her own to found a typing school for a special subset -- men -- who would never think to show up at the secretarial school, which is, after all, for women. But clever Mma Makutsi recognizes that in this age of computers, even a man must learn to type, even if he must do it clandestinely.

Lucky for us, the wily assistant does not leave the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, but starts the school on her free evenings. The venture brings her a suitor but, as so often in McCall Smith's Botswana (and everywhere), things are not as they appear.

Meanwhile, in her usual wise and gentle manner, Mma Precious Ramotswe continues to solve peoples' problems, care for the two foster children she has been persuaded to take into her home on Zebra Drive, and drink bush tea, wondering when Mr JLB Matekoni might set a date for their wedding. Rra Matekoni, for his part, at long last stands up to the venerable matron of the orphanage who has so handily persuaded him to take in those two orphan children, telling her that the water pump at the orphanage is finally, irrevocably, beyond repair, even HIS capable repair. And wonder of wonders, she has acceded to finding the resources for a new one.

The mysteries resolved and problems solved by Mma Ramotswe are really just ways into a preachless and tender morality and a means to illustrate just how much each of us has, how many resources reside within and around us every moment of our being. In fact I have returned to this series after a month of very difficult news and knowing that hard times are ahead for myself and my family, and it has inspired and emboldened me, and kept my spirits high and right. I don't know if this is literary fluff or not, but does it matter?

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780375422171
Author:
Smith, Alexander McCall
Publisher:
Pantheon Books
Author:
McCall Smith, Alexander
Location:
New York
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - General
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - Series
Subject:
Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths
Subject:
Mystery fiction
Subject:
Botswana
Subject:
Women private investigators
Subject:
Ramotswe, Precious
Subject:
Ramotswe, Precious (Fictitious character)
Subject:
Mystery-A to Z
Copyright:
2003
Edition Number:
1st American ed.
Edition Description:
Hardcover
Series:
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Series Volume:
04
Publication Date:
April 29, 2003
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
192
Dimensions:
8.68x5.80x.82 in. .76 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Mystery » A to Z
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The Kalahari Typing School for Men: More from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$4.95 In Stock
Product details 192 pages Pantheon Books - English 9780375422171 Reviews:
"Review" by , "The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswanan landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven't read anything with such unalloyed pleasure for a long time."
"Review" by , "I was enchanted by the character of Precious Ramotswe and the sly humor of Alexander McCall Smith's writing, his deft evocation of a culture."
"Review" by , "In spots, Kalahari feels a wee rushed....But if the new edition doesn't quite live up to the superior Morality for Beautiful Girls, it still brims with good humor and compassion. (Grade: B+)"
"Review" by , "Readers who haven't yet discovered Mma Ramotswe will enjoy discovering how her quiet humor, understated observation, and resolutely domestic approach to detection promise to put Botswana on the sleuthing map for good."
"Review" by , "A dose of easy humor laces the pages, as McCall Smith throws in wry observations....This is another graceful entry in a pleasingly modest and wise series."
"Review" by , "The fourth title in an internationally popular series...features an exotic African setting and charming, memorable characters. Recommended."
"Review" by , "Reader, be warned: This is not your ordinary detective novel....The Kalahari Typing School for Men maintains the breezy-to-read, gentle tone of Smith's previous work, and leaves us wanting more adventures ASAP."
"Synopsis" by , Now that the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she's reached her late thirties ("the finest age to be"), has a house, two children, a good fiance, and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems.
"Synopsis" by , Now that the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride. But life is never without its problems, as she discovers in this fourth book in a series the L.A. Times calls "thoroughly engaging and entertaining."
"Synopsis" by , Academy Award-winning writer/director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, Cold Mountain), along with Sydney Pollack's company Mirage, will be producing The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency TV series with New Africa Media Films.
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