An afternoon with Alexander McCall Smith

     Best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith charmed a capacity-plus crowd at Clark County Library Sunday as part of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District’s Reading Las Vegas program.
     Nearly 430 people packed the library’s main theater or watched the talk on a large screen in the Jewel Box Theater.
     McCall Smith’s program was full of humor from the start as he described his role in The Really Terrible Orchestra in which he plays a “part” of the bassoon.
     The author joked that he suffers from “serial novelism,” for which there is “no known cure.” He has four series of novels: The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which has sold 14 million copies worldwide; the Isabel Dalhousie series, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he calls home; the 44 Scotland Street Series, which starts out as daily installments in the Scotsman newspaper; and the lighthearted Portuguese Irregular Verbs Series, featuring German professors.
     McCall Smith said his approach to writing is showing how compelling stories can be made from “the small aspects of life.”
     He noted he is “very, very happy with the result” of “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” movie, which will be seen in the United States next year on HBO, along with a 13-part series based on the books. The movie was filmed in Botswana, where the books are set.
     McCall Smith continued his good humor into the question-and-answer session. When asked how he is able to write so well about women, he said, “Well, I am wearing a skirt,” pointing to his red-plaid kilt. More seriously, he added, “Writers should be able to step into someone else’s shoes.”
     For those interested in exploring McCall Smith’s captivating worlds, his latest book is “The Miracle at Speedy Motors.”