Glue - From the groundbreaking author of Trainspotting and Crime (Paperback, New ed)

Set mainly in Edinburgh, and spanning a period of roughly 25 years, this novel by the author of Trainspotting follows the fortunes of four 'schemies'. Welsh gives us a disquieting glimpse into the effects of growing up in one of the capital's rundown housing estates, or schemes, and the story is given added weight by being seen through the eyes of each of the main characters in turn. The use of slang and phonetic spelling makes the book difficult to access at first, but the rewards for perseverance are great. Many conflicts are examined, from the Hibs-Hearts divide of the football world, through the drink-drugs dichotomy of the recreational scene, to the basic schism between 'them' and 'us'. Throughout, the stream-of-consciousness delivery illustrates variations in the way different characters view themselves and the issues they confront. Where Juice Terry Lawson is obsessively libidinous, Business Billy Birrell is very concerned about respect. Carl Ewart is passionate about music, while the runt of the bunch, Andy Galloway, is definitely one of life's unfortunates. The descriptions of drinking bouts, drug abuse, violence (both casual and organized) and sex are not only vivid but in some cases gruesome in the extreme. But despite the air of gritty, grotty realism which prevails, the novel is not without a generous sprinkling of humour. This does little to soften the overall picture which is one of desperation. That the majority of the characters survive, and in some cases flourish, is astonishing - as is this book. (Kirkus UK)

An ambitious novel from the author of "Trainspotting" and "Filth."
"Glue" is the story of four boys growing up in Edinburgh's public housing developments, and about the loyalties, the experiences - and the secrets - that hold them together into their thirties.
Four boys becoming men: Juice Terry, the work-shy fanny-merchant, with corkscrew curls and sticky fingers; Billy the boxer, driven, controlled, playing to his strengths; Carl, the Milky Bar Kid, drifting along to his own soundtrack; and Gally, the doomed one whose skin is thinner than everyone else's and who seems to find catastrophe at every corner. As we follow their lives from the seventies into the new century - from punk to techno, from speed to ecstasy - we see them trying to struggle out of the conditioning of class and culture, peer pressure, and their parents' hopes. What binds the four of them is the friendship formed by the scheme, their school, and their ambition to escape from both.
"Glue" has all Irvine Welsh's usual pace and vigour, crackling dialogue, scabrous set-pieces and black, black humour, but it is also a book about growing up - about the way we live our lives, and what happens to us when things come unstuck.

General

Imprint:	Vintage
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	April 2002
First published:	2006
Authors:	Irvine Welsh
Dimensions:	198 x 130 x 33mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	576
Edition:	New ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-09-928592-2
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-09-928592-4
Barcode:	9780099285922

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