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The Lost Art of Gratitude [Hardcover]

Alexander McCall Smith (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Release Date: Sep 22 2009 | Series: Isabel Dalhousie
The sixth book in this bestselling series gives us Isabel, intrigue — both moral and financial — a fox bite, two engagements and at least one wedding!

While attending a second birthday party with her son, Charlie, Isabel meets Minty Auchterlonie, a ruthlessly ambitious high-flying financier who first appeared in The Sunday Philosophy Club. Minty heads a small investment bank and may or may not be deceiving her shareholders. Isabel faces a dilemma: she has information which could prevent the investors from being cheated — but how can she be sure of it?

Meanwhile, Isabel’s niece, Cat, becomes engaged to a stunt man who is also a funambulist. However, the fiancé is about to take up a highly dangerous engagement that Isabel fears will end in disaster, even as Isabel herself considers embarking on an extreme adventure of her own…

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Review

Praise for the Isabel Dalhousie Series:
“[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

“Scotland is a village … just as exotic and compelling, in its way, as Botswana. When authors as clever as McCall Smith pursue such parallel tracks, readers are doubly well-served.”
— The Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of four international bestselling 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. He lives in Scotland, where in his spare time he is a bassoonist in the RTO (Really Terrible Orchestra).
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Count Your Blessings and the Annoyances Don't Seem to Matter So Much Oct 27 2009
By Donald Mitchell #1 HALL OF FAME TOP 10 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
"And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant." -- Jonah 4:6

The sixth novel in this series about moral philosophy concerns happiness: The book demonstrates that you obtain that delightful state when you appreciate the good parts of your life and realize they are more valuable than your annoyances. Cultivate gratitude and you will be happy.

Unlike the earlier books in this series, there isn't much plot at all. Readers will rejoice in some good news for Isabel Dalhousie in her personal life while groaning over another run-in with professors Dove and Lettuce as well as some unsettling interactions with Minty Auchterlonie. There are two brief scenes with Cat that are a bit trying as well. Your heart will be warmed by some great moments with Charlie and Jamie.

There's no doubt about it that the series loses a lot of steam in this book. Even the wicked Minty didn't succeed in entertaining me very much: She just another grasping person who has to have her way.

I would have graded the book at three stars, but the charming moments were delightful and frequent enough to lift this book into the above-average category for me. Some of the humor is very well drawn, and I could easily imagine the author chortling in his kilt as I read it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Lessons for Living Oct 31 2010
By JS
Format:Paperback
I read this series to see how the author's mind works - of all of his serial characters I suspect that Isabel may be closest to his own. The curious wanderings of the mind whenever Isabel faces a situation are fascinating. When her housekeeper, Grace, refers to her situation with Jamie as "living in sin," we have a lovely fair discussion of the religious scruples that led to the term as well as an insight into Isabel's personal philosophy. The larger portion of the book is caught up in dealing with two thoroughly dislikable characters - Christopher Dove and Minty A--. Both are all too common sorts: out for themselves, perhaps even psychopaths in their willingness to use and abuse others. Isabel's response to them is quite interesting. With Christopher she fights fire with fire (a surprise.) With Minty, she decides not to descend to counter-blackmail (and I think readers' circles might have a lot to chew on regarding both of these decisions.) I only gave it 4 stars because this was the first in the series where the 'bad guys' have really no redeeming social characteristics (and that includes the fox-catcher.) As always, the descriptions of Edinburgh and its neighborhoods are wonderful, despite the weather.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Isabel's Moral Philosphy Marches On Aug 22 2010
By Alison S. Coad TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
The Lost Art of Gratitude, by Alexander McCall Smith, is the sixth in his Isabel Dalhousie series, which is the only one of his that I've continued reading book after book. Not that I didn't like the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, but I got tired of it after a while; so far, Isabel has not lost her charm for me. This time around, the philosopher and editor of the Review of Applied Ethics is facing a number of problems, some rather more easily dealt with than others. In the matter of Jamie, she finally decides that yes, she will marry him, especially after seeing how he relates to Charlie, their 18-month-old son. In the matter of the journal, Professor Dove is once again trying to remove her from her post as editor (to be replaced by himself, of course), but his machinations are easily undone, it only takes a little research to sort him out. And then there's niece Cat, yet again with an unsuitable man, not to mention ongoing encounters with Brother Fox. But most importantly, there's Minty Auchterlonie, an acquaintance who asks Isabel for help, which Isabel feels morally obliged to provide despite her deep and abiding dislike of the woman; the problems posed by that person are more difficult to resolve, especially as Minty seems to be lying to her at every turn....I really enjoy the Dalhousie series; everybody in it is gentle (mostly) and Isabel has much time to ponder how moral philosophy would address the dilemmas in which she finds herself. McCall Smith is a delightful writer, and I see this series as perhaps the coziest of his cozies. Recommended!
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