2008-02-18 Great fun!

Another delightful volume of sketches from the lives of the inhabitants, past and present, of 44 Scotland Street, Edinburgh. The stories have a fair dash of local colour which is understandable given that the chapters were serialised in the Scotsman, but that should not put-off readers from Kidderminster or Kathmandu as the characters and storylines are pretty universal. All the usual suspects are here - indecisive Matthew; outrageous Angus; put-upon Big Lou; bullying Bruce; poor six year old Bertie, whose every waking minute is organised by his overbearing mother - and more.

Great story-telling - very amusing, occasionally acerbic but never unkind. A good, uplifting read. How does he do it?