SOON TO BE A MAJOR FILM STARRING EMMA STONE, FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE FAVOURITE Winner of the Whitbread Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize A life without freedom to choose is not worth having. Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of the beautiful Bella, who he brings back to life in a Frankenstein-esque feat. But his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for his creation... But what does Bella think? This story of true love and scientific daring whirls the reader from the private operating-theatres of late-Victorian Glasgow through aristocratic casinos, low-life Alexandria and a Parisian bordello, reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church. ________________________ 'A magnificently brisk, funny, dirty, brainy book' London Review of Books 'Visionary, ornate and outrageous' The Independent 'Witty and delightfully written' New York Times 'A brilliant marriage of technique, intelligence, and art.' Kirkus Reviews 'The greatest Scottish novelist since Sir Walter Scott' Anthony Burgess Those who, like me, are unsure if they are Alasdair Gray fans or not, ought to fall on Poor Things with delight, and not just because of the almost excessive beauty of its appearance' Philip Hensher, Spectator

What strange secret made rich, beautiful, tempestuous Bella Baxter irresistible to the poor Scottish medical student Archie McCandless? Was it her mysterious origin in the home of his monstrous friend Godwin Baxter, the genius whose voice could perforate eardrums? This story of true love and scientific daring whirls the reader from the private operating-theatres of late-Victorian Glasgow through aristocratic casinos, low-life Alexandria and a Parisian bordello, reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church.

'Probably the greatest novel of the century' Observer 'Remarkable' William Boyd Lanark, a modern vision of hell, is set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, and tells the interwoven stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. A work of extraordinary imagination and wide range, its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying. First published in 1981, Lanark immediately established Gray as one of Britain's leading writers.

The two-volume set LNCS 9981 and 9982 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Semantic Web Conference, ISWC 2016, which was held in Kobe, Japan, in October 2016. The 75 full papers presented in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 326 submissions. The International Semantic Web Conference is the premier forum for Semantic Web research, where cutting edge scientific results and technological innovations are presented, where problems and solutions are discussed, and where the future of this vision is being developed. It brings together specialists in fields such as artificial intelligence, databases, social networks, distributed computing, Web engineering, information systems, human-computer interaction, natural language processing, and the social sciences. The Research Track solicited novel and significant research contributions addressing theoretical, analytical, empirical, and practical aspects of the Semantic Web. The Applications Track solicited submissions exploring the benefits and challenges of applying semantic technologies in concrete, practical applications, in contexts ranging from industry to government and science. The newly introduced Resources Track sought submissions providing a concise and clear description of a resource and its (expected) usage. Traditional resources include ontologies, vocabularies, datasets, benchmarks and replication studies, services and software. Besides more established types of resources, the track solicited submissions of new types of resources such as ontology design patterns, crowdsourcing task designs, workflows, methodologies, and protocols and measures.

Mungo McGrotty's career in Whitehall is going nowhere. But when he finds the mysterious (and deadly) Harbinger Report, he realises he can blackmail his way to the very top. This twisted Grayian retelling of the Aladdin story under the Thatcher regime sees our hero rise from pawn to power. But at what cost?

It is the Swinging Sixties and Kelvin Walker has moved from Scotland to London to make his fortune. Through his wanton ambition, a megalomania surfaces that is unrelieved by his insensitive attempts at friendship and romance. Yet is he all bad, or are the true villains the establishment figures who he tricks and deceives? And, ultimately, does it matter? Gray's twist on the follies of religion, the media and the imperial British centre is as relevant now as ever.

40th anniversary edition 'Probably the greatest novel of the century' Observer Lanark, a modern vision of hell set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, tells the interwoven stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. A work of extraordinary imagination, its playful narrative conveys a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying. First published in 1981, Lanark established Alasdair Gray as one of Britain's leading writers and kick-started the modern renaissance of Scottish literature.

A man finds a bald patch on the back of his head that looks curiously like a face, then discovers he's splitting in two. A bored student suggests digging a tunnel into the foundations of the art school. An elderly man is healed by hundreds of tiny people working on repairs inside his own head. Unlikely Stories, Mostly is Alasdair Gray's first collection of short stories. Gloriously illustrated, darkly funny, and steeped in myth and fable, they capture Gray's singular imagination.

Jock McLeish, failed husband, lover and businessman is alone in a hotel room, drinking whisky, fantasising about sex and contemplating suicide. As he tries to distance himself from reality, his lonely, alcohol-fuelled fantasies are interrupted by a flood of memories, reminding him of his own shortcomings. An unforgettably imaginative book, deeply experimental in its form and charged with a dark humour, 1982, Janine is a searing portrait of male need and inadequacy. Gray's exploration of politics, religion, powerlessness and pornography has lost none of its power to shock and entertain.

Now in paperback, an authoritative collection of Alasdair Gray's stories gathered over the last 25 years, with illustrations and information to amuse the curious reader

The first 16 stories in this collection were published in 1983 with the title "Unlikely Stories, Mostly." The "Washington Post" called it "a wonder of ingenuity, a varied and rich collection in which Gray's abilities as a visual artist and illustrator are placed not only beside but within the products of his fertile imagination as a writer." The" Bookseller" said "Gray's is an extravagant imagination." This collection also has 57 tales from later books, and 16 new ones published here together for the first time. This last section, Tales Droll and Plausible, shows that Gray's recent 21st century fiction is as uncomfortably funny and up-to-date as his earliest.

The two-volume set LNCS 9981 and 9982 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Semantic Web Conference, ISWC 2016, which was held in Kobe, Japan, in October 2016. The 75 full papers presented in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 326 submissions. The International Semantic Web Conference is the premier forum for Semantic Web research, where cutting edge scientific results and technological innovations are presented, where problems and solutions are discussed, and where the future of this vision is being developed. It brings together specialists in fields such as artificial intelligence, databases, social networks, distributed computing, Web engineering, information systems, human-computer interaction, natural language processing, and the social sciences. The Research Track solicited novel and significant research contributions addressing theoretical, analytical, empirical, and practical aspects of the Semantic Web. The Applications Track solicited submissions exploring the benefits and challenges of applying semantic technologies in concrete, practical applications, in contexts ranging from industry to government and science. The newly introduced Resources Track sought submissions providing a concise and clear description of a resource and its (expected) usage. Traditional resources include ontologies, vocabularies, datasets, benchmarks and replication studies, services and software. Besides more established types of resources, the track solicited submissions of new types of resources such as ontology design patterns, crowdsourcing task designs, workflows, methodologies, and protocols and measures.

'Reveals Gray's powers of insight and invention' Guardian 'One of the most vital retellings of the poem to date' Spectator Dante, now guided by Beatrice, faces the final third of his epic journey through the wheels of divine justice. Yet as he passes through the spheres of Heaven, he struggles with his faith, striving to understand the scales of good and evil that determine the fate of a human soul. The final book from Alasdair Gray, Paradise is a fitting conclusion to his own irreplaceable body of work, as well as to his masterful retelling of Dante's trilogy.

In this masterful retelling of one of the greatest works of world literature, Alasdair Gray - in his last work - offers an original translation in prosaic English rhyme. Lyrical and modern, this complete edition brings all three parts of Dante's epic journey through Hell and Purgatory and on to Paradise together in a single volume for the first time.

The autobiography in words and pictures of the fascinating and acclaimed author of "Lanark," a key figure in postmodern art Alasdair Gray is known throughout the world for his writing, but he is also a highly regarded artist who not only illustrates and designs his own books, but has created many beautiful and intriguing portraits, paintings, posters, and murals. Alasdair started painting and writing from an early age, and in his seventies he's still vigorously doing both. In this autopictography he gathers together the work that has mattered most to him over the years, and weaves the story of his life through and around these pictures in his own unmistakable style. A beautifully and copiously illustrated book, designed by himself, this is life as seen by one of the millennium's most entertaining and wry creative geniuses.

A tale of border warfare, military and erotic, set in the twenty-third century, where the women rule the kingdom and the men play war games. This is the fictional memoir of Wat Dryhope - edited, annotated and commented upon. History has come to an end, war is regulated as if it's all a game. But Wat, the History Maker himself, does not play entirely by the rules, and when a woman, Delilah Puddock, joins the fray, this 'utopian' history is further enlivened. Alasdair Gray cleverly plays with the notion and writing of history, as well as perennial modern debates on war, sexism and society - entertaining and thought-provoking, this is a delightful satire illustrated throughout by the author.

One of the masterpieces of world literature, completed in 1320, Dante's La Divina Commedia describes his journey through Hell, Purgatory and his eventual arrival in Heaven. In this new version of Dante's masterpiece, Alasdair Gray offers an original translation in prosaic English rhyme. Accessible, modern and sublimely decorated, this remarkable edition told in three parts yokes two great literary minds, seven hundred years apart, and brings the classic text alive for the twenty-first century.

Peers may describe him as 'a great writer ...perhaps the greatest living in Britain today,' (Will Self); but Alasdair Gray sees himself as 'a fat, spectacled, balding, increasingly old Glasgow pedestrian.' Such is the humour that abounds in Gray's first work of fiction in seven years. In these 13 Sorry Stories, Gray reaffirms his position as a master of the short story. Illustrated throughout with the author's own eccentric drawings, there are tales of love and loss as the body, ungracefully ages: stories of mischievous, old men and effective messages from Gray himself, proving he is not at the 'end of his tether'.

A short history of literate thought by great writers of four nations from the seventh to the twentieth century. This monumental work of scholarship and wit is a history of English Literature seen through the prefaces of great writers from Caedmon onwards. Alasdair Gray, who has chosen and edited all of the prefaces and written most of the commentary, wishes it to be known that the book is not a monster by a literary Frankenstein, but rather an entertaining and erudite account of how Celts, Saxons and Norman French invented a language used by England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States and many other modern nations. He has been assisted in the commentaries by some thirty authors including James Kelman, A.L. Kennedy, Bernard MacLaverty and, indeed, Virginia Woolf.

Alasdair Gray has spent over thirteen years on this project although he has written a number of other books in the meantime, not least, the Whitbread and Guardian prizewinning novel Poor Things and the story collection Ten Tall Tales and True. He lives in Glasgow.

In this frank, playful and typically unorthodox collection of essays, Alasdair Gray tells how his early life experiences influenced his writing, including the creation of those landmarks of literature, Lanark and 1982, Janine. He details the inspirations behind his many acclaimed artworks and murals, and makes clear how his moral, social and political beliefs and his work are inextricably linked. Incisive, funny and fired with passion, Of Me and Others is as much about people, place and politics as it is about Gray's own life in art.