The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs

By: Alexander McCall Smith

Narrated by: Paul Hecht

Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

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 at the University of Arkansas. Still, in von Igelfeld's view, one American state is very like another. An expert philologist, von Igelfeld prepares to deliver a talk on verbs, until he makes a grim discovery: he has been mistaken for a German master of veterinary science who has recently passed away. One man at the reception is quick to point this out. But von Igelfeld explains that since Germans are so efficient, they sometimes publish obituaries before a person's demise. Before long, he takes the podium and faces an attentive crowd expecting to hear some fine points on the nature of sausage dogs.

©2003 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2004 Recorded Books, LLC

Dreadful

Who wants to read about an insecure, entitled oaf butchering a poor dog - not me

Disappointment and disgust

What would have made The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs better?

Not thinking amputating three legs off a dog by a bumbling idiot was comedy.

Has The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs turned you off from other books in this genre?

It has turned me off of the author which is too bad as I liked his other series (No.1 Ladies Detective Agency). There the heroine has compassion and wisdom. Wonder what happened here.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs?

See above - What editor thinks this will appeal to to masses? Obviously, this was not meant for everyone, just a niche I guess.

Any additional comments?

I see from other comments that the amputated dog apparently "gets back" in the end. Nice, but still a thoughtless premise. I stopped reading after that chapter. Any humor or enjoyment from the "three stooges in one" hero was gone. If you like animals, pass on this one.

Having said that, the performance itself was fine and I would listen to another book narrated by him, hopefully he chose a better one next time.

Disappointing!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

There wasn't enough of a story line to keep my interest. And it wasn't very believable.

Would you ever listen to anything by Alexander McCall Smith again?

I've listened to other books by this author and enjoyed them, so I would try one of his books again.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Paul Hecht?

There was nothing wrong with the narrator just the story line.

This is supposed to be funny?

What would have made The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs better?

Not sure anything could have made it better given the premise of accidentally amputating 3 legs from a little dog.

What do you think your next listen will be?

No idea but I will never again assume I will like any book from a favorite author.

Which scene was your favorite?

None. I didn't finish it.

What character would you cut from The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs?

All but the dog.

Any additional comments?

Who finds amputating 2 of a little dog's legs by mistake funny? I could not get into this story beyond that part. Even before that, the professor going along with the mistaken identity is just stupid.

I love much of McCall's work. Have read all the Ladies Detective series as well as the Philosopher's series but what the heck is going on with this?

I am so disappointed that I wasted an entire credit on this book.

disturbing premise and in bad taste

What would have made The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs better?

Having a better grasp of how vet and teaching hospitals work. Mr. McCall Smith has always seemed to have a good understanding about his subject even if he does use artistic license. This book lost me totally in his treatment of both the veterinarian world and the dogs.

Has The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Paul Hecht?

not the problem

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was trying to stay with the author until he surgically removed 2 legs of a dog. I could not listen any further. The whole ludicrous idea that a person could lecture to convention of vets and not know a thing and get away with pushed my credulity. But to be allowed to do surgery with disastrous and a cruel outcome was the end of my listening. I am not a squeamish person but Mr. Mc Call Smith's treatment was insulting to me as a reader and to animal vets in general. I know that some vets can get carried away by their own importance and lose sight of the animals and the humans that own them but this is not the way to address the issue.
I will admit that I did not listen to hear the end of the book but felt I had wasted enough of my time on it already.

Any additional comments?

I wonder what happened to Mr. Mc Call Smith that he stooped to such writing in bad taste

Wasn't what I expected

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Just wasn't interesting to me

What was most disappointing about Alexander McCall Smith’s story?

The story line

What didn’t you like about Paul Hecht’s performance?

It was OK

What character would you cut from The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs?

don't know

Any additional comments?

I really couldn't finish the book

wierd non-dog story

What disappointed you about The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs?

I loved his other books, this was sorry

Has The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs turned you off from other books in this genre?

the whole story line was just wrong

How could the performance have been better?

not to have been written in the first place

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment

Any additional comments?

a waste of time and money.

Horrid

Pity I couldn’t leave 0 stars. Senseless waste of time to read/listen. No redeeming qualities. Narration not bad but nothing could help. Still trying to figure out why the book was written.