Promotional Information

'An exquisitely paced black comedy. It has clever and funny things to say. There was a rumour that Porno was to be Welsh's last book. You'll be glad it wasn't' Evening Standard

About the Author

Irvine Welsh is the author of ten previous novels and four books of shorter fiction. He currently lives in Chicago.

Reviews

Irvine Welsh is in a class of his own...[his books have] a seething life in them that rivets attention and an inventiveness with story and language that continually amuses and amazes
*Guardian*

It is an exquisitely paced black comedy. It has clever and funny things to say. There was a rumour that Welsh's last novel, Porno was to be his last. You'll be glad it wasn't
*Evening Standard*

Flickers with the dynamism, black humour and imaginative bravado that is Welsh at his best
*Financial Times*

An outrageous and exhilarating foul-mouthed book
*Sunday Times*

Vintage Welsh: Brilliant, graphic, with frequent forays into the grotesque
*Sunday Tribune*

Welsh, who will probably never live down Trainspotting (1993), gets considerable comic mileage from dual Edinburgh protagonists and their disparate perspectives. Danny Skinner is the bad boy of the local restaurant inspection office, partying hearty, keeping irregular hours and doing just enough to keep a tenuous hold on his job and on longtime girlfriend Kay, a dancer. The arrival at the office of eager-to-please Brian Kibby, a virginal nerd fresh from university, completely throws off Danny's game and draws his unmitigated ire ("Another fucking clone, another Foy arse-licking sycophant"). As Brian's father lays dying, Danny, who never knew his father, sets out to discover his father's identity; meanwhile, smarmy celebrity chef Alan De Fretais, with his filthy kitchen, brings things to a buddy-movie flashpoint. With plenty of plot movement-Danny journeys to America; Brian falls prey to a mysterious illness that requires Danny to really function at work-and rich characters, the novel keeps the reader entertained with a full-bodied (those kitchens are hot and cramped) view of life's ironies. It's eminently filmable, but not in the manner of its illustrious predecessor; Welsh's expansive storytelling and archly imaginative humor now suggest a more aggro John Irving. 7-city author tour. (Aug. 7) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Don't be misled by the voyeuristic title to expect a feast of food and sex. Actually, this is a tale of hate between two young Edinburgh Environmental Health officers-Danny, an alcoholic who blames his addiction on the absence of a father, and Brian, a shy model railroad enthusiast who resorts to masturbation to release his sexual fantasies. Brian finds Danny intimidating, yet Danny thinks that it is Brian's effeminacy that drives him to feel this way. Mysteriously, every time Brian lapses into pain from an unidentifiable virus, the otherwise healthy Danny experiences an identical pain. Scottish writer Welsh does a commendable job of weaving a common thread between rivals, but he fails to project the same fresh and witty voice he presented in Trainspotting, instead preferring to concoct a novel following a more popular recipe that includes punk music, video games, drugs, religious upbringing, politics, voudou, and murders. The result will arouse the adrenaline of some readers but will leave die-hard Welsh fans hungry. Recommended for public libraries.-Victor Or, Vancouver & Surrey P.L., B.C. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.