- Hardcover: 128 pages
- Publisher: Overlook Press; First American edition (Jun 1 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0879517751
- ISBN-13: 978-0879517755
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.8 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 372 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,064,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
Urban Scottish grunge, which the hit movie Trainspotting made world famous, began as a literary phenomenon; six good examples of it make up this book. Gordon Legge's "Pop Life" leads off disarmingly, tracing the rock-centered friendship of Martin, Ray, and Hilly from their teens to their thirties, when, except for their records, they have little in common. The next three entries--a grimly humorous novel excerpt by Alan Warner, a Samuel Beckettish comedy about parking-ticket-writing traffic wardens by James Meek, and Paul Reekie's "Submission," a poet-intellectual's raffishly disgusting letter to a younger writer--are more what one expects: the drink-and-drug-sodden capers of various lumpen types. A schoolteacher's willing seduction by a curvaceous teen goes awry in Laura J. Hird's "The Dilating Pupil," and aliens under the influence of an Edinburgh street tough try to take over the world in "The Rosewell Incident" by Irvine Welsh, author of the novel Trainspotting. Brutal, funny stuff, like James Kelman's Busted Scotch. Ray Olson
From Kirkus Reviews
Stories by six young writers, the cream of the contemporary Scottish Beats crop, are anthologized here in a raw display of life on the edge. An excerpt from a 1991 novel by Alan Warner, here titled ``After the Vision,'' is the most successful of the lot, describing one man's long voyage home after a rave, a journey that touches bottom when he meets a long-lost mate who enthuses over his job at a crematorium, then begins slowly to rise when he meets two women who take him to their friend, who in turn offers him a couch for a much-needed night's sleep. Also funny and compelling is ``The Brown Pint of Courage,'' by James Meek, in which three bottom-rung members of Edinburgh's parking police force indulge in mayhem and coercion on the job--one even falling in love on his lunch break with a woman who shares his passion for Thomas Carlyle--before the good times come to an end in spectacular fashion. Other interesting stories by Laura J. Hird and Paul Reekie involve a teacher's nightlong seduction of his 16-year-old student, which doesn't go quite as he planned (``The Dilating Pupil''), and a chronicle of a generation finding its way in the world, narrated by a man recovering from burns received while sitting on a toilet that ignited (``Submission''). The most touted piece here, however, proves disappointing: Irvine Welsh's sci-fi spoof involving aliens and their command of Scots English (``The Rosewell Incident''), has a few laughs but not much else. The vision of Scottish life created by these six voices is remarkably consistent, vital, and unyieldingly tough-minded, but it's too early to say if these promising young writers will mature into major ones, or if they'll gain much of a foothold on these shores. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Introduction to "New" Scottish Writing,
By
This review is from: Children Of Albion Rovers (Paperback)
An excellent introduction to "new Scottish writing" this collection features one short story each from Irvine Welsh (Filth, Trainspotting, Ecstacy Club, Maribou Stork Nightmare), Alan Warner (Morvern Callar, These Demented Lands,The Sopranos), Gordon Legge (The Shoe, In Between Talking About the Football), James Meek (Drivetime), Laura Hird, and Paul Reekie. Gordon Legge's "Pop Life" is a gruffly tender portrait of three friends who've grown up and apart. Alan Warner's "After the Vision" is typically long on tone and atmosphere as it follows a stranded raver trying to find a place to sleep until the morning train. James Meek's "Brown Pint of Courage" amusingly depicts a trio of parking ticket writers who blow off their job. Paul Reekie's "The Submission" was perhaps the lesser of the six stories, written as a long rambling letter to a friend. The most "sexy" story is by the lone female entrant, Laura Hird, whose "The Dilating Pupil" is about a middle-aged teacher and a female student who have designs on each other which are derailed in a night of booze and drugs. Irvine Welsh's "The Rosewell Incident" is the shallowest, but possibly funniest read of the lot. It throws together alien abduction and "lads" in an unholy alliance to rule the world. A bit silly but fun. The collection as a whole is well worth checking out if you want to see what the Scottish kids are up to.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Introduction to "New" Scottish Writing,
By A. Ross - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Children Of Albion Rovers (Paperback)
An excellent introduction to "new Scottish writing" this collection features one short story each from Irvine Welsh (Filth, Trainspotting, Ecstacy Club, Maribou Stork Nightmare), Alan Warner (Morvern Callar, These Demented Lands,The Sopranos), Gordon Legge (The Shoe, In Between Talking About the Football), James Meek (Drivetime), Laura Hird, and Paul Reekie. Gordon Legge's "Pop Life" is a gruffly tender portrait of three friends who've grown up and apart. Alan Warner's "After the Vision" is typically long on tone and atmosphere as it follows a stranded raver trying to find a place to sleep until the morning train. James Meek's "Brown Pint of Courage" amusingly depicts a trio of parking ticket writers who blow off their job. Paul Reekie's "The Submission" was perhaps the lesser of the six stories, written as a long rambling letter to a friend. The most "sexy" story is by the lone female entrant, Laura Hird, whose "The Dilating Pupil" is about a middle-aged teacher and a female student who have designs on each other which are derailed in a night of booze and drugs. Irvine Welsh's "The Rosewell Incident" is the shallowest, but possibly funniest read of the lot. It throws together alien abduction and "lads" in an unholy alliance to rule the world. A bit silly but fun. The collection as a whole is well worth checking out if you want to see what the Scottish kids are up to.
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