Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
R. Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a British writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with these issues...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth24 August 1948
books deny entirely given perfectly picture positive present sought written
My Botswana books are positive, and I've never really sought to deny that. They are positive. They present a very positive picture of the country. And I think that that is perfectly defensible given that there is so much written about Africa which is entirely negative.
certainly country entirely good high paint painting picture pretended realistic regard
I've certainly always had a very high regard for Botswana and so I paint a very good picture of the country and I've never pretended to be painting an entirely realistic picture.
audiences inflict terrible
I would never inflict my bassoon on anybody really other than the long suffering audiences that come to the concerts of The Really Terrible Orchestra; which actually is really terrible.
books doubted letters meant people single
Every single day, I get letters - very moving, overwhelming letters - testifying how much my books have meant to people in times of crisis in their lives, when they were very ill, say. If I ever doubted that writing could play an important part in people's lives, I don't doubt that now.
bit break complex creatures elaborate
Baboons take a bit of getting to know but, apparently, once you break the ice, so to speak, they are complex and interesting creatures with elaborate societies.
perhaps
You're always told by your publisher that you must only write one book a year and some years you should perhaps write none at all.
frailty human point
You do not have to ladle on the impasto to make a point about human frailty or ambitions.
novel scotland work
With '44 Scotland Street' I found myself having to work out how a daily novel works, and it is completely different to a conventional novel.
offending wider
The wider your readership, the greater the chances of offending your readers.
Writing fiction, I really just sit there and it just comes.
bleak books dwell encompass manifold particular terrible
Fiction is able to encompass books that are bleak and which dwell on the manifold and terrible problems of our times. But I don't think that all books need to have that particular focus.
asking characters people wherever
Wherever I go in the world, people all know about Scotland Street and are always asking me about what's going to happen to the characters next.