Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party

By: Alexander McCall Smith
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £9.99

Buy Now for £9.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

When his loving wife, Betty, plans a trip to Ireland for Fatty O’Leary’s 40th birthday things go wrong almost immediately: the seats in economy class on the plane are too small; Irish bathroom furniture is not as commodious as he'd have liked. And all the time Fatty must put up with the unthinking cruelty of strangers.

©2014 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Mums on the Run cover art
The Stratton Story cover art
The Frenchman and the Lady cover art
Mrs. Tim of the Regiment cover art
The Corner Shop cover art
Country Plot cover art
Bedpans and Bobby Socks cover art
The Late Breakfasters cover art
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin cover art
The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall cover art
Lord James Harrington and the Winter Mystery cover art
Bunburry 1-3 cover art
The Wildflower Path cover art
Airs and Graces cover art
Something in Disguise cover art
Staying On cover art

Critic reviews

"In a hilarious and touching portrayal of a kindly and misunderstood soul, McCall Smith has created yet another memorable character who will become an instant favourite to his many fans."
"McCall Smith's generous writing and dry humour, his gentleness and humanity, and his ability to evoke a place and a set of characters without caricature or condescension have endeared his books to readers" ( New York Times)

What listeners say about Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

enjoyable

this is amusing and I laughed out loud at some of it. easy going and feel good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Fabulous Fatty O'Leary!

I Loved it! I cried, squirmed and laughed with Fatty O'Leary and his beloved wife Betty. The narrator was a joy to listen to. Brilliant !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Good narrator, bad book

I did listen to the whole of the book, but I nearly gave up a number of times.

The good points? Well the narrator was good. The bad? The characters were unlikeable, the situations were unbelievable, and the resolution of the story was unsatisfactory.

I think the author was trying to write in the style of Wodehouse, but it was just far to clumsy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not the usual standard

There is no doubt that I am an avid McCall Smith fan but in my opinion, this book is one of the most disappointing. I have lived at the book's location on the east side of Lough Derg (there is no 'south side' )for 60 years; a local has never called it the 'lough', always the 'lake'.I know this is a tiny research point but it distracts from the authenticity as one realises that someone who usually speaks Scottish-English is telling a pretend story about Ireland. The mystery of Fatty's missing clothes from the laundry room is left unsolved, just suggesting that Mrs O'Connor was using them as rags. However, why would she need to when she has an accumulation of left behind property.
A reader might think that I'm being pedantic, but that is not true. I am familiar with copious McCall Smith works and have been spoilt by flawless research that has transported me from Botswana to Edinburgh in blissful cloud of fiction!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful