Irvine Welsh - Skagboys

Financial Times“Close to magnificent; an extraordinary piece of work...” There are occasional passages of hallucinatory lyricism and an ending that’s as good as anything Welsh’s done, and that reminded me, tonally, of Browning’s “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”...

The Observer“There's something deeply cheering about returning to Welsh's world...” For hardcore enthusiasts, Skagboys' more measured pace and broad overview is a treat. For everyone else Trainspotting said it all, and said it better...

The Telegraph“An immersed, troubling perspective...” Skagboys sets out the crew’s first footfalls towards the helter-skelter: their first hits of heroin, their first forays into pimping and theft. Underpinning Welsh's work is a consistent metanarrative: Thatcher created an army of the undead...

The Scotsman“An overdue disappointment...” Skagboys is a prequels which diminishes the power of the original. Lovers of Trainspotting should avoid this book...

Guardian“A great talent tamely revisiting his glory days...” Skagboys reads like somebody's interesting but confused first novel: nakedly autobiographical, stylistically uneven, with some fascinating passages and a fair amount of earnest and plodding social realism...

The Independent“Crude, violent and poetic by turns...” Skagboys lacks the political urgency of Trainspotting, and its success lies simply in its absorbing, energetic writing. Welsh's descriptive style is masterful, but it is dialogue for which he has the Midas touch...