WINNER OF THE GUARDIAN FICTION OF THE YEAR AWARD

ONE OF THE LIST’S BEST SCOTTISH BOOKS OF ALL TIME

Set in nineteen-sixties Glasgow, this novel portrays the struggles and conflicts of young working-class hero and would-be novelist Mat Craig, whose desire to define himself as an artist creates social and family tensions.

This classic of Scottish twentieth-century literature is renowned for its vivid descriptions of Glasgow and the fight for individual creative expression; it remains as authentic and relevant more than fifty years after its original publication.

Includes an Introduction by Alasdair Gray as well as Archie Hind’s unfinished novel Fur Sadie and one of his essays ‘Men of the Clyde’.

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‘An exciting first novel worth a dozen more seasoned efforts’ - Guardian

‘The best novel ever written’ - Skinny

‘A touching insight into human strength and frailty’ - Daily Mail

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'One of the few novels about writers and writing that actually contributes something fresh and different where most are simply self-indulgent'

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'An exciting first novel worth a dozen more seasoned efforts'

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'The best novel ever written'

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'A touching insight into human strength and frailty'

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'A seminal novel of working man's aspiration'

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'Archie Hind’s captivating seminal novel about the struggles of a working class writer in 1960s Glasgow yields striking and profound insights into human perseverance and vulnerability'