Synopses & Reviews
Marked by Irvine Welsh’s scabrous humor and raw Scottish vernacular, Skagboys transports us to 1980s Edinburgh, where the Trainspotting crew is just getting started. Mark Renton has it all: the first in his family to attend university, he has a pretty girlfriend and a great social life. But when economic uncertainties and family problems intervene, Rent succumbs to the defeatism—not to mention the drug use—that has taken hold in Edinburgh’s tougher quarters. His friends are responding according to personality. Laid off, Spud Murphy is paralyzed in the face of long-term unemployment. Sick Boy, supreme manipulator of the opposite sex, is scamming and hustling for money and drugs. And meanwhile, psycho Franco Begbie is scaring the hell out of everyone. Darkly humorous, Skagboys gives a gritty and gripping portrait of a time, not unlike ours, when money was scarce, unemployment was high, and drugs seemed the answer.
Review
"The cumulative force of is something close to magnificent...An extraordinary piece of work." Sam Leith
Review
"Starred review: Stunning . . . devastating. . . . A haunting and important book that deserves serious attention." Financial Times
Review
"Careening between boisterous, belligerent, hilarious, and maudlin emotional registers like a drunk at a party, this novel has a dizzy energy." Keir Graff Booklist
Review
"Nearly 20 years after , Welsh delivers a stunning prequel that shows how his characters got hooked on heroin...Though Welsh's characters are younger, he is older, and his writing has become even more nuanced...A haunting and important book that deserves serious attention." Financial Times
Review
"Welsh wants us to know these guys, to feel their humanity...the novel is nothing short of a masterpiece." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Set against 1980s Thatcher-era Edinburgh with its high unemployment, low expectations, and hard-to-come-by money and drugs?Irvine Welsh s colorful crew lunges from one darkly hilarious misadventure to the next. Gritty, moving, and exhilarating, Skagboys paints their dizzying downward spiral with scabrous humor and raw language.
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Synopsis
Prequel to the best-selling phenomenon , this exhilarating and moving novel shows how Welsh's colorful miscreants first went wrong.
Synopsis
Mark Renton’s life seems to be on track: university, pretty girlfriend, even social success. But, in this prequel to
Trainspotting, after the death of his younger brother, Rent falls apart and starts hanging around with his old pals, including Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie, and being drawn irresistibly into their wacked-out plans.
Set against 1980s Thatcher-era Edinburgh—with its high unemployment, low expectations, and hard-to-come-by money and drugs―Irvine Welsh’s colorful crew lunges from one darkly hilarious misadventure to the next. Gritty, moving, and exhilarating, Skagboys paints their dizzying downward spiral with scabrous humor and raw language.
Synopsis
Mark Renton's life seems to be on track: university, pretty girlfriend, even social success. But, in this prequel to , after the death of his younger brother, Rent falls apart and starts hanging around with his old pals, including Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie, and being drawn irresistibly into their wacked-out plans.
About the Author
Irvine Welsh is the author of Trainspotting, Filth (being made into a movie starring James McAvoy), Acid House, Glue, Porno, and Crime, writes screenplays, and produces movies. He lives in Chicago, Miami, and London.