Corduroy Mansions

Sam at Book Chase brought my attention to Alexander McCall Smith's latest concept work, Corduroy Mansions, which was published weekdays in serial format through February on the website of The Guardian. Serial publication isn't new to McCall Smith, who's been publishing the 44 Scotland Street series daily in The Scotsman for several years now - I'm not sure how long, exactly, but as of this year there will be 5 novel-length volumes compiled. I was interested, since I do like McCall Smith's work very much, and 44 Scotland Street is probably my favorite of his series, but also because I'm fascinated by his volume of output - counting the serials, I think he's producing 4-5 novels a year lately, plus children's books.

Corduroy Mansions bears a strong resemblance to 44 Scotland Street. Both tell the stories of the residents of the various flats in their eponymous addresses, but that's just the beginning. They also share plenty of themes - art, wine, grown children - and characters - narcissist, lovable eccentric, dog whose carni-centric thoughts the narrator can read.

One interesting feature: each installment was posted both in text and audio, the audio being read by British actor Andrew Sachs - remember the Spanish waiter from Faulty Towers? And he was good.

I enjoyed it, because it certainly carries that McCall Smith charm, that brainy coziness that makes his fans so fiercely loyal. In the final accounting, hard-core McCall Smith fans will appreciate this, while acknowledging it's a bit derivative; casual readers, particularly those of his other serialized work, will find it more of the same; and novices are advised to seek out his other, somewhat stronger, pieces first (and heaven knows there's enough of them).

Illiteracy in the Library?

In search of a bit of Lenten reading, I went online last night to check whether my local library's copy of the new Barbara Brown Taylor book was checked in, and found this rather unexpected message where the search field should have been:

Due to the Adult Services renovation, the Nonfiction, Audiobooks on Cassette, Reference, and Paperback collections will be inaccessible until further notice.

The implicated renovation is phase 2 of a full overhaul of the building interior. Last spring they revamped the foyer and circulation area, and if the course of that project is an indication, this one should be done well and in good time - "until further notice" is perhaps a melodramatic choice of words, since the whole thing is scheduled to take something like six weeks.

But really, the entire adult nonfiction and reference collections will be completely inaccessible? That's kind of embarrassing.

I'm slightly reminded of my local library back in Massachusetts. The library I primarily used was in a larger, adjacent town, since the town where I actually lived was a bedroom community with a handy location but only 2,000 residents. The public library in the little town willingly advertised itself as, and I quote, "strong in popular fiction." Sigh.