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    The Kalahari Typing School for Men
    The Kalahari Typing School for Men
    The Kalahari Typing School for Men
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Kalahari Typing School for Men

    Written by Alexander McCall Smith

    Narrated by Lisette Lecat

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    International best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith delivers another delightful tale from his critically acclaimed No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Precious Ramotswe's comfortable existence as the only detective in Botswana is suddenly rattled when the Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency opens, and its brochure proclaims, "Don't take any chances! Entrust your enquiries to a MAN!" But with wisdom on her side, Mma Ramotswe figures to upstage her competition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 20, 2008
    ISBN9781436101370
    The Kalahari Typing School for Men
    Author

    Alexander McCall Smith

    Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the award-winning series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he now devotes his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. He is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, and his work has been translated into forty-six languages. Before becoming a full-time writer he was for many years Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh.

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    Reviews for The Kalahari Typing School for Men

    4/5

    63 ratings35 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Another wonderfully enjoyable installment in the saga of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyable book. Nice light read for the pleasure. I enjoy hearing about the customs and culture of Botswana, Africa as well. This book went into more depth on the life of the secretary. Very interesting. I can't read Smith's books in a row, however. I need a break between books.
    • 5/5
      You always know what you're going to get with this series of books, this instalment being no exception. Simplistic in tone, it makes its points directly rather than obscuring them in symbolism. If there is anything that marks this book out as different from its predecessors it is perhaps the amount of man-bashing it indulges in - far more than I have ever encountered before in a book by a male author! And the joke about the qwerty keyboard was superb.
    • 4/5
      Another great Ladies' Detective Agency story. Thankfully Mma Makutsi's story was not as depressing as it might have been. And has anyone else ever wondered why the younger apprentice appears not to have a name?
    • 5/5
      From New York to Gabarone, via Johannesburg,' ran the caption at the top of the page. 'A detective from different worlds: we spoke to the charming Mr Buthelezi in his well-appointed office, and asked him what it was like to be a private detective in Gabarone.'"It is quite hard being the first proper detective," he said. 'There are, as people know, one or two ladies who have been dabbling in this for a little while, but they have no background in detection. I am not saying that thee is not a job for them to do. There will always be jobs relating to children and the like. I am sure that they will do those very well. But for the real work, you need a proper detective.The detective agency faces competition when the Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency opens in Gabarone, run by an arrogant man with a Zulu name and Zulu attitudes. Mma Ramotswe helps a man who wishes to atone for something he did as a young man while wondering whether Mr J. L. B. Maketoni will ever set a date for their wedding, while Mma Makutsi decides to start a new business of her own. In each book of this series, the shadow of AIDS over Botswana seems to come ever closer, even though the disease causing such devastation is never named.
    • 4/5
      Fourth in the "No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" series. Mr J.B.L. Matekoni has recovered and returned to Speedy Motors, and so Acting Manager Mma Makutsi has the time and the incentive to look for another business opportunity. Her solution is to set up the titular Kalahari Typing School For Men, which runs alongside her work for Mma Precious Ramotswe's detective agency. But the two ladies have a rival, in the form of newly arrived Sephas Buthelezi and his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency.One of the joys of this series is that each book works as a standalone novel, but that as you read the series you see the slow buildup of a long term story for the continuing characters, and the developments in their lives. There's no feeling of lack of closure at the end of any particular book, but the story does move on in the next.
    • 5/5
      I loved this one! Not so much of a mystery as some of the others in the series, but the characters and the setting are just so wonderful. I never knew much about Botswana before these books, but now I would love to visit. I feel like I know the people. Not sure what I'm planning to do with this book yet.
    • 5/5
      All the books in this series are a delight. I read all of them straight through, one after the other, stopping only because I'm waiting for my copy of "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive" to arrive. If it were possible to actually spend some time with the main characters, it would be a pleasure. I'd even try redbush tea.
    • 3/5
      Not a series I can read one right after the other, but each one is a pleasant read when it comes along.
    • 3/5
      These books are warm and relaxing, full of good will and gentle humor. Kind of a Winnie the Pooh for adults. I'd forgotten about them for awhile and enjoyed coming back to Botswana.
    • 4/5
      The more I read this series, the more I enjoy it. The style is deceptively clean and simple, but the depth of characterization and plot that gets carried is impressive. The mysteries solved are not difficult, but the people revealed are complex. Even though Smith is not a Botswana, his evocative picture clearly shows his love for the country adnd the people.
    • 2/5
      Maybe 3.5 stars. Mma Ramotswe is still charming, but the story is flat. Too much thinking about life and too little of any actual doing. The conflicts were minimal, almost unimportant, and there was little to no actual mystery in the "mysteries." I'm quickly losing interest in this series as the novels lose substance.
    • 3/5
      This is the fourth book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I read the first three in 2005 and enjoyed them, but haven’t felt the need to pick up another. I came across this one at a library book sale and thought, why not?Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi are still running the detective agency. Mma Makutsi is trying to find a way to supplement her income and Mma Ramotswe is still adjusting to life with two new foster children. The book moves slowly, unlike most mystery novels. They are more about life in Botswana, which moves at a leisurely pace, then about solving a huge case. Sometimes I enjoy this, but other times I just want something to happen. The books include interesting characters, but I feel like you never really learn much more about them as the series progresses. As with the other books, I enjoyed this one alright, but I don’t feel I need to read the next book. If you love these books, then this one will be no exception. But if, like me, you just aren’t swept away then this one is not really worth picking up. “She knew that she would have to be extremely careful, this clerk wasn’t bright and people like that could show a remarkable tenacity when it came to rules.”
    • 3/5
      Not quite as good as the first in the series, but still a lot of fun. McCall Smith's depiction of the characters and the countryside they live in is vivid and memorable.
    • 4/5
      This is the forth book in McCall Smith's delightful series which starts with No1 Ladies Detective Agency - Mma Ramotswe, her fiance Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, her assistant Mma Makutsi are back solving intriguing cases - but as ever these are not so much whodunits as whydunits
    • 3/5
      It's strange -- on one hand, I really enjoyed reading this book as well as its predecessor, Morality for Beautiful Girls, yet there's also something that I am beginning to find unsatisfying about them. Sometimes plot points seem wrapped up too abruptly. And the same themes are repeated over and over -- how much the characters love Botswana and how the traditional ways they love are disappearing. I'm sure I'll read more from this series in the future, but I'm definitely ready to move on to something else.
    • 4/5
      Read on trip in Germany. Good airplane read.
    • 4/5
      The fourth book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, this installment, we watch her assistant Mma Makutsi come into her own, managing the garage, starting her own typing school, and looking for love.Quick and heartwarming as always. The characters are sweet and the good guys always win in the end. Nicely done.
    • 4/5
      These seem to become slighter with every instalment in the series – this one took me about two hours – but it’s nice to see Mma Makutsi coming into her own.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this installment much better than the previous one. I liked Mma Makutsi's business idea and seeing her get her business up and running. I did not enjoy how awkward the author continues to make this character and the way in which her seeming good fortune in the book is turned into something for which to pity her. I found the trying issues that Mma Ramotswe faces as a parent struggling to learn how to deal with her two new children to be believable. I liked the theme of forgiveness in the one mystery. The rival detective is a bit too one-dimensional to be enjoyable as a storyline. I enjoy these characters and find myself caring about them and their well-being in the books.
    • 4/5
      I'm tempted to move to Botswana after reading this series; the author has made me fall in love with this country and her people.
    • 4/5
      The 4th book in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series. I enjoyed getting to know Mma Makutsi (the detective agency’s secretary) better in this latest installment. Although this book focuses more on the individual characters and less about the detective cases, the series is still charming and fun to read.
    • 4/5
      Further incidents in the No. 1 ladies detective agency - a male competitor has set up, and life becomes even more troubled. Fortunately Mr Matekoni has recovered from his depression,but the apprentices have not changed that much. Mma Makutsi searches for love - can precious Ramotswe do anything to help?Perhaps not as wonderful as the earleir works but still an enthraling read, full of hte joys of life.
    • 3/5
      Read on the way home from visiting Melissa. Not as good as the first book, I think I'm losing my interest in this series.
    • 4/5
      Another treat from Alexander McCall Smith in his successful No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. We can once more enjoy the ruminations of the minds of his characters as they reflect on the passing scene and on the weaknesses and strengths of the people they encounter in their daily lives. Always in the case of Mma Ramotswe, we hear her deplore the passing of the old ways of Botswana particularly after some encounter with the new. Mma Makutsi has a larger role in this book as she opens her typing school for men. This new adventure puts into play her thoughtful consideration of the ways of men--their dislike in being outshone by women in a class, their embarassment in coming to such a class. It also leads her into the world of deceitful, lonely men with unfortunate results. The author is a keen observer of the human race and all its foibles and yet he shows us a gentle and humane way of treating people as they fall from grace and are caught in disgrace by the two indomitable lady detectives.
    • 3/5
      First time my reading has taken me to Botswana. Interesting journey to a part of the world that I thought was only inhabited by Bushmen. But adequately written and a quick read about the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. None of the mysteries are particularly serious, but entertainingly solved.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful, soothing - just as good as I had hoped it would be. The most consistently entertaining series I have read in a long time.
    • 4/5
      Another great book in the series.
    • 2/5
      Consistently good series. The situation with Mma Makutsi seemed to have been resolved a little too neatly, but otherwise good. An interesting perspective on the male of the species from Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe.
    • 5/5
      You don't have to read the first three Mma Ramotswe books in order to enjoy Kalahair Typing School for Men but I think you would enjoy them better if you did. In the fourth installment of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency the plot continues to move away from solving mysteries (as it had been in Morality for Beautiful Girls) and the emphasis is placed more on character development. To bring you up to speed: Mma Precious Ramotswe is Botswana's only female detective. She is engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and together they have adopted two children, a brother and sister, but still haven't set a wedding date. It seems Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is content to stay engaged for an indeterminate amount of time. Mma Ramotswe has two cases of interest. One is a gentleman wishing to repair his not so sterling past. He wants to make amends for a series of wrongs he has done as a youth. The other mystery is a typical marital woe of a woman thinking her man is cheating on her. The title of the story comes from Mma Matakutsi's side business of starting a typing school for men.