Regular price: £26.00
Years on from Trainspotting Sick Boy is back in Edinburgh after a long spell in London. Having failed spectacularly as a hustler, pimp, husband, father and businessman, Sick Boy taps into an opportunity which to him represents one last throw of the dice. However, to realise his ambitions within the Adult industries, Sick Boy must team up with old pal and fellow exile Mark Renton.
A rampaging force of nature is wreaking havoc on the streets of Edinburgh, but has top shagger, drug dealer, gonzo-porn star and taxi driver, ‘Juice’ Terry Lawson finally met his match in Hurricane ‘Bawbag’?Can Terry discover the fate of the missing beauty, Jinty Magdalen, and keep her idiot-savant lover, the man-child Wee Jonty, out of prison? Will he find out the real motives of unscrupulous American businessman and reality-TV star Ronald Checker?
Glue is the story of four boys growing up in the Edinburgh schemes, and about the loyalties, the experiences, and the secrets that hold them together into their 30s. 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 the doomed Gally, who seems to find catastrophe at every corner.
The characters in this extraordinary book are often - on the surface - depraved, vicious, cowardly and manipulative, but their essential humanity is never undermined. Two professors of philosophy turn pugilists; Leith removal men become the objects of desire for Hollywood goddesses; God turns Boab Coyle into a house-fly; and in the novella, 'A Smart Cunt', the drug-addled young hero spins off on a collision course with his past.
With the festive season almost upon him, Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson is winding down at work and gearing up socially - kicking off Christmas with a week of sex and drugs in Amsterdam. There are irritating flies in the ointment, though, including a missing wife, a nagging cocaine habit, a dramatic deterioration in his genital health, a string of increasingly demanding extra-marital affairs. The last thing he needs is a messy murder to solve.
Gary is a sweet and decent man. Only two things would improve his life - having children with his gorgeous wife, Pauline, and a lower golf handicap. Both are unlikely. Pauline is wondering how she ended up living in an ugly little house, driving a second-hand car and making a living dressing up as Tinker Bell. She's planning to leave Gary for a self-made carpet millionaire. Findlay, the Carpet King of Scotland, wants to trade in his obese wife for a younger model.
Years on from Trainspotting Sick Boy is back in Edinburgh after a long spell in London. Having failed spectacularly as a hustler, pimp, husband, father and businessman, Sick Boy taps into an opportunity which to him represents one last throw of the dice. However, to realise his ambitions within the Adult industries, Sick Boy must team up with old pal and fellow exile Mark Renton.
A rampaging force of nature is wreaking havoc on the streets of Edinburgh, but has top shagger, drug dealer, gonzo-porn star and taxi driver, ‘Juice’ Terry Lawson finally met his match in Hurricane ‘Bawbag’?Can Terry discover the fate of the missing beauty, Jinty Magdalen, and keep her idiot-savant lover, the man-child Wee Jonty, out of prison? Will he find out the real motives of unscrupulous American businessman and reality-TV star Ronald Checker?
Glue is the story of four boys growing up in the Edinburgh schemes, and about the loyalties, the experiences, and the secrets that hold them together into their 30s. 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 the doomed Gally, who seems to find catastrophe at every corner.
The characters in this extraordinary book are often - on the surface - depraved, vicious, cowardly and manipulative, but their essential humanity is never undermined. Two professors of philosophy turn pugilists; Leith removal men become the objects of desire for Hollywood goddesses; God turns Boab Coyle into a house-fly; and in the novella, 'A Smart Cunt', the drug-addled young hero spins off on a collision course with his past.
With the festive season almost upon him, Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson is winding down at work and gearing up socially - kicking off Christmas with a week of sex and drugs in Amsterdam. There are irritating flies in the ointment, though, including a missing wife, a nagging cocaine habit, a dramatic deterioration in his genital health, a string of increasingly demanding extra-marital affairs. The last thing he needs is a messy murder to solve.
Gary is a sweet and decent man. Only two things would improve his life - having children with his gorgeous wife, Pauline, and a lower golf handicap. Both are unlikely. Pauline is wondering how she ended up living in an ugly little house, driving a second-hand car and making a living dressing up as Tinker Bell. She's planning to leave Gary for a self-made carpet millionaire. Findlay, the Carpet King of Scotland, wants to trade in his obese wife for a younger model.
In this 1962 classic, a novelistic exploration of modern crime and punishment, Alex is the 15-year-old leader of his gang of "droogs" thriving in the ultraviolent future as prophetically imagined by Burgess. Speaking a bizarre Russian-derived slang, Alex and his friends freely pillage and slash their way across a nightmarish urban landscape until Alex is captured by the judicial arm of the state. He then becomes their prized guinea pig in a scientific program to completely "redeem" him for society.
Kennedy Marr is a novelist from the old school. Irish, acerbic, and a borderline alcoholic and sex addict, his mantra is drink hard, write hard and try to screw every woman you meet. He's writing film scripts in LA, fucking, drinking and insulting his way through Californian society but also suffering from writer's block and unpaid taxes. Then a solution presents itself - Marr is to be the unlikely recipient of the W. F. Bingham Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Modern Literature, an award worth half a million pounds.
Meet Steven Stelfox. London, 1997: New Labour is sweeping into power, and Britpop is at its zenith. A&R man Stelfox is slashing and burning his way through the music industry, fuelled by greed and inhuman quantities of cocaine, searching for the next hit record amid a relentless orgy of self-gratification. But as the hits dry up and the industry begins to change, Stelfox must take the notion of cutthroat business practices to murderous new levels in a desperate attempt to salvage his career.
In honor of the 10-year anniversary of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx’s definitive and bestselling memoir on drug addiction is now available on audio for the first time, read by Nikki Sixx! This shocking, gripping, and at times darkly hilarious memoir explores Nikki’s yearlong war with a vicious heroin addiction. Now more than ever, with opioid addiction ravaging our country and rising by 20 percent in the past year alone, Nikki’s story is now more relevant than ever.
After a SWAT team smashed down stock-market millionaire Shaun Attwood's door, he found himself inside of Arizona's deadliest jail and locked into a brutal struggle for survival. Shaun's hope of living the American Dream turned into a nightmare of violence and chaos, when he had a run-in with Sammy the Bull Gravano, an Italian Mafia mass murderer. Join Shaun on a harrowing voyage into the darkest recesses of human existence.
Every weekend, in basements and car parks across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter and dark, anarchic genius. And it's only the beginning of his plans for revenge on the world.
God takes a look at the Earth around the time of the Renaissance, and everything looks pretty good - so he takes a holiday. In heaven time this is just a week's fishing trip, but on Earth several hundred years go by. When God returns, he finds all hell has broken loose: world wars, holocausts, famine, capitalism and "fucking Christians everywhere". There's only one thing for it. They're sending the kid back. JC, reborn, is a struggling musician in New York City, trying to teach the one true commandment: be nice!
In Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, Raoul Duke (Thompson) and his attorney Dr. Gonzo (inspired by a friend of Thompson) are quickly diverted to search for the American dream. Their quest is fueled by nearly every drug imaginable and quickly becomes a surreal experience that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. But there is more to this hilarious tale than reckless behavior, for underneath the hallucinogenic facade is a stinging criticism of American greed and consumerism.
A modern masterpiece,The Godfather is a searing portrayal of the 1940s criminal underworld. It is also the intimate story of the Corleone family, at once drawn together and ripped apart by its unique position at the core of the American Mafia. Still shocking 40 years after it was first published, this compelling tale of blackmail, murder, and family values is a true classic.
Mark Renton sollte glücklich sein. Er ist jung, smart, hat eine hübsche Freundin und Spaß am Studium. Doch im Großbritannien der Achtziger ist kein Platz für ihn und seine Freunde. Man hat ihnen Arbeit, Bildung und Wohlstand versprochen, aber nun ist niemand da, um diese Versprechen auch einzulösen. Als Marks Familie auf tragische Weise zerbricht, gerät sein Leben außer Kontrolle. Dies ist die Geschichte der jugendlichen Außenseiter Mark Renton, Spud Murphy, Franco Begbie und Sick Boy.
Tom is in a soft play with his daughters. He's bored. He's so bored he can move things with his mind. A man fills up a mate's biscuit tin without ever telling him, to see what happens. Maggie's boyfriend, Iain, bought a curtain. It keeps attacking them. She wants it out of the house. A man is sitting in his wheelie bin at two in the morning, and he wants to tell you why. Kenny's mate Scott is suicidal and ridden with guilt. Kenny takes him on holiday to Benidorm. It'll be some laugh.
Daft Wee Stories is Limmy’s first book. It is a collection of stories. There are short stories. There are longer stories. There are stupid stories. There are thoughtful stories. There are upside-down stories. There are normal-way-up stories. There are weird stories. There are less weird stories. There are really weird stories. There is nothing else like it. Have a listen.
Mark Renton has it all: He's good-looking, young, with a pretty girlfriend and a place at university. But there's no room for him in the 1980s.Thatcher's government is destroying working-class communities across Britain, and the post-war certainties of full employment, educational opportunity and a welfare state are gone. When his family starts to fracture, Mark's life swings out of control and he succumbs to the defeatism which has taken hold in Edinburgh's grimmer areas.
The way out is heroin. It's no better for his friends. Spud Murphy is laid off from his job, Tommy Lawrence feels himself being sucked into a life of petty crime and violence - the worlds of the thieving Matty Connell and psychotic Franco Begbie. Only Sick Boy, the supreme manipulator of the opposite sex, seems to ride the current, scamming and hustling his way through it all. Skagboys charts their journey from likely lads to young men addicted to the heroin which has flooded their disintegrating community.
This is the 1980s: a time of drugs, poverty, AIDS, violence, political strife, and hatred - but a lot of laughs, and maybe just a little love; a decade that changed Britain for ever. The prequel to the world-renowned Trainspotting, this is an exhilarating and moving book, full of the scabrous humour, salty vernacular and appalling behaviour that has made Irvine Welsh a household name.
This will almost certainly be the sweariest book that you will have ever read. In fact, it is one swear-word short of sweariness saturation- where the context of the story is lost in a sea of foul potty-mouthiness.
HOWEVER... It is written with a deftness of style, and a sensitivity to the human condition, which can bring you to the point of tears. The characters develop seamlessly into rich, interesting, believable, three-dimensional, but larger, no, LARGER than life people. You love them, you hate them, you feel for them, you hope for them, you cringe with them. The tale (or tales) is (or are) in turns funny and sad and poignant, and funny, and cringeworthy, and did I mention funny. And as for the swearing- it feels so natural to the characters that you barely even notice it.
The book has a feel similar to its companion, Trainspotting. It is more a series of little episodes, which build like a mosaic into the whole of the novel. I think that it's better than Trainspotting- it's just so well written!
The Narration is as good as any I have ever heard. Tam Dean Burn obviously loved his brief, and he nailed it! It is told with a passion and energy, which brings that characters and scenes alive. I'm sure that Irvine Welsh was delighted by the rendition that TDB delivered.
I cannot rate this book highly enough. It really captured me from the very first moment, and I urge you to give it a go!!!
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
I started off hating this. The swearing was unreal. Given that I swear a fair old bit this shocked me a bit.
I did stick with it and am so glad i did. Learnt to really get close to the characters and understand them. There was enough humour to keep you sane.
I would read/listen to it again. Just don't let the first hour put you off
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
Welsh has had a few "odd" books since Trainspotting but this one really is perfect.The narration is first class although he does struggle a bit with the Geordie female accent!
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Where does Skagboys rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Really enjoyed it...would be in my top five audio books.
What other book might you compare Skagboys to, and why?
Trainspotting, which this is the prequel to.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
There are so many, it's hard to single one out...there is a very funny sex scene and you'll know which one when you get to it.
Any additional comments?
This is definitely not one for the kids. It is proper adult humour and subject matter. If you are easily offended, do not get this book as you will definitely not like it. It is crude, very sweary and politically incorrect in its best places, never mind its worst. If, like me, you grew up on a rough old council estate and did a few dodgy things when you were young, you will absolutely love it and find you can relate to the lifestyle and the characters in the book with a rather perverse nostalgia.I thought it was wonderfully entertaining, totally hilarious in places and thoroughly enjoyable...so much so, I immediately started listening to Trainspotting as my next book.I would say that the reading of the book is without doubt, the best reading I've ever heard. The narrator is truly brilliant and perfectly captures the essence of the characters with the amazing accents and colloquialisms off pat. Genius level narration, in my opinion.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Would you listen to Skagboys again? Why?
Yes, i already have dipped in to bits. It fills in a lot of gaps as a prequel to trainspotting and Porno. The sheer size also means a second listen will be rewarding.
Who was your favorite character and why?
It would be easy to say the obvious favourites but there flaws are all higlighted many times, i went through stages of loving and hating Renton. Keasbo i wanted and still do want to know more about, he was easily the most likeable and probably the "gadge" you could associate with most despite his failings.
I also wanted to learn a touch more about seeker, i really enjoyed his relathionship with Mark in rehab.
Sick boy for all the wrong reasons is a pleasure to listen too.
Have you listened to any of Tam Dean Burn’s other performances? How does this one compare?
Yes, he makes the incredible charachters of Irvine Welsh come to life in your head. The voices are all recognisable instantly, Tam Dean Burn should be narrating every audio book as a matter of law.
This was the best to date simply because of the 24 hour duration, it never sounded tired and by the end i didnt want to leave there world regardless of the sordid aspects of their existence.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, the length didnt allow and truthfully it takes a bit of thought and recap.
Any additional comments?
A wonderfully written book, I love a prequel like this where at the start it just seems like a new story and by the final page the jigsaw is so much more complete in your head. The problem is you get greedy for more of the same. I have read this book too, the audio is just a bit special.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
love these characters wish there was more.
Always wanted to return to book as soon as I'd put it down.
Story got a bit lost sometimes but I suppose life is like that as well
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Great,narrator was Scottish which was a bonus,overall a great start to Renton's story, highly recommended for all Trainspotter fans.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Captures the imagination from the start.
Excellent book with real guts and a naked honesty through out.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Masterful grip of the heroin and AIDS epidemic that hit due to, amongst other factors
What would have made Skagboys better?
not writing it at all
Would you ever listen to anything by Irvine Welsh again?
yes
Which character – as performed by Tam Dean Burn – was your favourite?
none
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
absolutely none
Any additional comments?
excellent narration but this should have a warning (as should many audible books) that it has adult themes and language not a pleasant listen at all
The sequel to Trainspotting lives up to Irvine Welsh's original. Lots of laughs and familiar characters in a believable story about how they became schemie junkies. Being Scottish and born at the same time as the main characters took me back to how Thatcher screwed a generation and British scociety and wasted lives, helped greatly by the people themselves.
If youre not Scottish you may find some of the story hard to understand - heaps of dialect. If you don't like very strong language (repeated often) and some gross/taboo stories - avoid. Having read/listened to all of Welsh's books to date this is up there with the original and Glue.
The best credit I have ever spent here and I have listened to some beauties - I had a barry time listening.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Would you consider the audio edition of Skagboys to be better than the print version?
I actually would not, I enjoyed the listen, but as a Canadian not used to Scottish accents or slang, I think I missed a lot as compared to the other Welsh books I've read. I'll be giving this one a second listen to try and pick up what I missed.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Skagboys?
The moments where they are all just destroyed and miserable with withdrawl were unreal. So pathetic and desperate, the narration brought that all to life.
Everything with Maria was so awful but memorable.
Which scene was your favorite?
The rehab diaries
Who was the most memorable character of Skagboys and why?
Maria really sticks out in my memory, Her story is really heartbreaking.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful