Tiny Tales – a unique collaboration from bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith and illustrator Iain McIntosh. Perfect short stories that dance across your mind just as an amuse bouche dances on your tongue.
Stories do not have to be long. In the space of a couple of sentences – or even a page or two – we may see the human heart exposed in a way that is more powerful than occurs in many much longer narratives.
In Tiny Tales Alexander McCall Smith explores romance, ambition, kindness and happiness in thirty short stories that range in length from the short to the minuscule. The settings are as diverse as the characters – Scotland, England, Australia, the United States – combining to create a rich and surprising tableau. An Australian pope? A persuasive cosmetic surgeon? The world’s laziest cat? A group of students living together and getting romantically entangled? All human and animal life is here – in miniature.
These stories are inspired and accompanied by the thirty magnificent strip Tiny Tales created by McCall Smith and illustrated by the brilliant Iain McIntosh – each cartoon a little gem of observation.
Tiny Tales strips appeared every week in the Financial Times for a four month period.
Very short stories are not the exclusive preserve of writers. Illustrators are also adept at the form, and it was for this reason that I approached the well-known Scottish illustrator Iain McIntosh to see whether he would be interested in embarking on a series of extremely brief stories. The idea was that Iain would draw four panels in which a whole story would be illustrated with the minimum of text.
Listen to Alexander talking about Tiny Tales here.
Reviews
‘Tiny windows on the world… deft and funny and smart’
Financial Times
‘His talent is concentrated down to its purest form… intoxicating stuff’
The Scotsman
‘In a world which presently feels polarised and intolerant, these vignettes provide a wonderful antidote to scepticism and anger and are a soothing balm for the heart and soul in these uncertain times’
The Chronicle, Australia
‘A small book in size, but it is mighty of heart… dip in and out, or binge read like I did as I snickered and smiled my way through the pages. Short and sharp, yet bountiful and considerate, Tiny Tales really is the most fabulous book’
Liz Robinson, LoveReading.co.uk - Book of the Month
‘[Each story] is a wonderful little window into an aspect of life’
Times Radio interview
‘It is remarkably clever how, in just a few pages, he [Alexander McCall Smith] can create a complete little world… The tales aptly demonstrate the brilliance of the writer’s imagination… the book also contains an extra treat, something almost worth buying the book for alone. Interspersed throughout the text are little graphic stories, called amuse-bouches drawn by A.McCS’s friend, Iain McIntosh… Each set of four witty images has a punch line and they are satisfying in much the same way as A A.McCS’s text – and together make Tiny Tales a little treasure’
Patricia Cleveland Peck, The Cultural Voyager
‘The man who came up with Botswana’s first lady detective (The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) has done it again, this time in miniature. Tiny Tales is a selection of short, diverse stories and cartoon strips that ripple with humour. Perfect for those without the time, patience or inclination to pick up a novel. It will have readers – especially new ones – coming back for more’
Sunday Post
‘Exquisitely funny … I can’t think of any other writer who could come up with anything like this, because as well as being among the funniest he has ever written, these stories are also moving, respectful and kind. Even the Pope himself would, I think, enjoy them’
David Robinson, Cultural commentator
FIVE STAR review ‘easy to read, charismatic and charming. It convincingly demonstrates that length is by no means essential for a captivating read… the variety and individuality of each tale pays testament to McCall Smith’s creative abilities’
Scottish Field
‘We have been absolutely delighted to publish Tiny Tales cartoon strips in the FT Weekend. Stories, stories, stories in all shapes and lots and lots of different sizes… many excellent tales’
