Book #68

If You Liked School, You’ll Love Work by Irvine Welsh

In 'Rattlesnakes', three young Americans find themselves lost in the desert, held captive by armed Mexicans; in 'The DOGS of Lincoln Park', a mysterious Korean chef may or may not have something to do with the disappearance of a socialite's pooch; an English bar owner battles to keep all his balls in the air on the Costa Brava; a film biographer becomes a piece of movie memorabilia himself in 'Miss Arizona'; and in the 'Kingdom of Fife'; an ex-jockey and table-football star of Cowdenbeath takes on the charms of Jenni Cahill and her remarkable jodhpurs.

It’s mental to believe that your faithful Welsh Fangirl #1 hasn’t read this one before now, despite it being published ten years ago. I don’t even have a reason, other than I’m an arsehole with too many books.

There’s a lot of mixed reviews out there, but I got real feel here of Welsh trying out different styles. Folk just don’t like change. Although I prefer his stories set on home soil, and most of the stories in this collection were American-based, it was class to see the sickness he could drag out in the land of the free.

It’s just pure uncut depravity, and if you say you’re not looking for that from Welsh, you’re lying. I get this mad feeling of excitement when I’m sunk into his rank mind, a crazy adrenaline feeding my brain with thoughts on what the fuck he’s going to hit me with next. It leads to wild behaviour like lying next to a pool, reading with a pint, and shouting out “HE’S COOKED THE FUCKIN DUG!” 

Aye, some of them are better txhan others, but you get that with any short story collection, and as I've said, this really feels like an experimental work, and it’s total class. And everyone on Goodreads who has said The DOGS of Lincoln Park was shite is cordially invited to come and fight me.