What W. H. Auden Can Do for You (Writers on Writers)
If you’re a fan of McCall Smith’s,you know that he’s a fan of W. H. Auden. His two series set in Edinburgh—Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie novels—have characters who frequently quote Auden. In this installment of the Writers on Writers series, McCall Smith, with a wink to Alain de Botton’s How Proust Can Change Your Life (1998), sets out to speak directly about what Auden has meant to him and how readers who have never read the poet can be enriched by his work. McCall Smith is marvelous in describing scenes from his own life that were made radiant or understandable by Auden’s poetry. He is less successful, except in a general poetry can change your life way, in relating Auden to new readers. This book wanders quite a bit, and it certainly won’t generate Auden converts, but it will help both Auden and McCall Smith fans understand the themes and values of both. --Connie Fletcher