on the classic form of minutiae inflated to monstrous proportions," but the reviewer expects these stories are not as charming as those in the series set in Gaborone. Sarah Weinman reviewed this book when the first three books were published in the UK in one volume, The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom. She remarks that "The stories that make up the von Igelfeld trilogy are rooted in McCall Smith's own career in academia as a professor of medical law." She credits the success of the novel to the author's "charming, gentle voice" which is "always clear and present, brimming with intelligence and humour and rooted in curiosity, one that elevates even the most innocuous interactions to both high comedy and art." This reviewer noted the illustrations favorably, "perfectly match the text at any given point." Development of the novel Per Dawn Drzal, "the book began as a private joke with a very distinguished real-life German professor, McCall Smith's friend Reinhard Dr. Dr. Dr. Zimmermann. (His official title: German academics line up all their doctorates.)" Zimmerman bought half of the print run of 500 books, and slowly it built a cult following ("a kind of samizdat"), which increased with each successive novel of the three. Publication history The book was published in the UK in 1996 with a run of 500 copies. Half were purchased by his friend, Dr. Dr. Dr. Reinhard Zimmermann, a German academic. The first three books were published in the US at once in 2004, following the wildly popular success of McCall Smith's other series, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which "shower[ed] the globe with four million copies in English alone." Alexander McCall Smith followed Portuguese Irregular Verbs with two sequels: The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances, both published in 2003. In 2004, Abacus (an imprint of Little, Brown and Company) republished all three novels in a paperback omnibus titled The 2½ Pillars of Wisdom. A fourth volume, Unusual Uses for Olive Oil, was published in 2011. References External links Portuguese Irregular Verbs at Random House 1997 British novels British comedy novels Novels set in Germany The 2½ Pillars of Wisdom Regensburg