One City

This is a collection of three long-ish stories by three famous Edinburgh authors, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin and Irvine Welsh, produced to support the OneCity Trust. Each of these authors is a master story-teller, and this is a strong collection. All three stories take place in Edinburgh.

McCall Smith's story ("The Unfortunate Fate of Kitty da Silva) features an Indian immigrant to Edinburgh, and focuses on his alienation in the cold Scottish social climate. It is a bit darker and more serious than other works I have read by him. Always a keen observer of human relationships and interactions, in this story he delves a bit more deeply into prejudice, loneliness and isolation. There is humor here, of course, and an uplifting conclusion, as per the author's trademark style. A first-rate story by an author at his prime.

Rankin's story ("Showtime") stars a homeless man who turns to magic tricks to try to improve his lot in life. Through a series of chance encounters, he finds hope for a different sort of future. I've read several of Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels, and this story has an entirely different feel to it: the city of Edinburgh is brighter and friendlier, and there is a hint of magical realism here, which feels playful. A look into a different, less-twisted part of Rankin's mind.

Welsh's story ("Murrayfield (you're having a laugh)") takes place over the course of maybe an hour, as a tiger on the loose terrorizes a neighborhood. The characters include a slightly daft woman, an aging narrow-minded widow, and a foul-mouthed drug-dealer, all neighbors, and their stoner mailman. This is a wry commentary on the suspicion of the middle class: towards the authorities, threats to their lifestyle (drugs especially) and of course, each other. This is a very, very funny story for those who don't mind a bit of seriously dirty language and parsing the Scottish dialect. ( )

3 stories by 3 well known writers; Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh and an introduction from J K Rowling.
The stories are complex enough that they could easily have been expanded in to a novel.
If I remember rightly, some of the money from the sale of the book went to charity.
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