In this collection of eight short misadventures we meet Professor Dr. von Igelfeld as he acquires the philosophy of tennis, and later impels a colleague to enter into a duel that results in a nipped nose. The professor also takes a field trip to Ireland (where he becomes acquainted with the rich world of archaic Irishisms) and develops an aching infatuation with la femme-dentiste fatale. Along the way, he takes two ill-fated Italian detours—the first merely uncomfortable, the second possibly deadly. The creator of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency—himself an emeritus professor—Alexander McCall Smith takes us into the rarified, somewhat lunatic world of eccentric scholars at Germany's Institute of Romance Philology. The semi-hero of this academic satire is Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, author of the scholarly Portuguese Irregular Verbs, ever engaged in an errant quest to win true love and "a tiny bit of recognition from the Portuguese."