Alexander McCall Smith Talks Success
Posted on March 7, 2005
Alexander McCall Smith says success can be overwhelming. The Guardian has an interesting interview with Alexander McCall Smith, author of No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, in which he shares some thoughts about his phenomenal success. Smith seems an unassuming type:
"In America, I have millions of readers," McCall Smith--Sandy to his friends--tells me, lowering his voice as if this were still news to him. "I have to pinch myself."Hey, 56 isn't too old for fame! And we think he deserves more than just a new pair of slippers for his wonderful books.There has been "tremendous pleasure" in knowing that millions of people are reading his books. "But my time is no longer my own." He feels "a little bit overwhelmed by it." He looks down thoughtfully: "I suppose you feel unsettled. You have to make sure you don't let things go to your head, that's very important." He adds that fame has come "too late" (he's 56) and laughs helplessly, possibly at the vision of what getting carried away now might entail. Laugh he may, but he hasn't made much of a fist of success so far; he is reported merely to have awarded himself new shoes.