Product Description

Made up of three of Welsh's most powerful stories, all come from the rough, tough badlands of the schemes of North Edinburgh and take us into a dark but hilarious world of drugs, deviant sex and football hooliganism fired by Welsh's passion and fierce steaming rock and roll.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #159499 in Books
• Published on: 1995-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 289 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In Welsh's (Trainspotting) gritty proletarian universe, everyone from God to Madonna (the Material Girl, not the Virgin) speaks tough, working-class Scottish dialect: "That cunt Nietzsche wis wide ay the maark whin he sais ah wis deid," confides a prickly, pint-hefting Almighty in a Glasgow pub. "Ah'm no deid, ah jist dinnae gie a fuck." Nihilism and self-absorption characterize the nearly indistiguishable junkies, football hooligans and petty thieves who narrate these edgy, preponderantly first-person stories and one novella. Like fellow Scot James Kelman (whose salty vernacular Welsh's dialogue echoes), Welsh's predatory characters are society's dregs, hard-luck losers pinned to seediness by the empire's decline and by their own low expectations. The plots address this unrelenting grimness with shocking violence or twisted comedy. With the former, Welsh lacks Kelman's chilling incisiveness and tense dramatic control; he's somewhat more successful at broad satire and manic, high-concept humor. When it works, it's hilarious: "Where the Debris Meets the Sea" features inventive turnabout, as fanzines and tabloid TV programs about Scottish lorrie drivers feed the sexual fantasies of Madonna and friends. More often, though, the satire lacks teeth, descending instead to weak sarcasm. The title story's inspired premise (an acid tripping malcontent and a yuppie couple's newborn swap souls) fizzles out in conventional, trite pokes at political correctness, men's groups and upward mobility. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jim Carroll
Like a master pocket billiards player, Irvine Welsh, with smooth, gliding strokes and a shark-like humor, sinks a rack of short stories one by one.

Customer Reviews

You've f****d this one up, ya daft c**t
Though I had never read an Irvine Welsh book from beginning to end I love the movie of The Acid House and I'm forever quoting it. Being from Scotland and knowing some of the rascals portrayed so convincingly on screen I found it hilarious. I came across the book about 8 years ago and read some of the short stories, but I had never read it all until now.

The Granton Star Cause, A Soft Touch and The Acid House were all dramatized for the movie but there are a few others that have enough merit to be made into live-action dramas. Eurotrash, for example, is a darkly repugnant story with a macabre twist ending. Snuff, the darkest of all stories, would have been amusing. And Snowman Building Parts For Rico The Squirrel seems like something straight out of David Lynch's dreams.

There are a couple of duds though. A Blockage In The System goes nowhere fast and Wayne Foster is just plain confusing. The novella at the end however, A Smart C**t, is a truly grotty affair told from the point of view of the least likable man in history. It's a depressing experience filled with far too many characters with stupid names that have no personality outside of stereotypes, if that. I was thankful when it was over.

Judging by the opinions of others this novella is similar to Trainspotting only not as vile. Well, I can assure you I will be staying well clear of THAT one. When I was in high school Trainspotting was the book of choice for all the idiots who didn't read but wanted something that they could relate to for their English exam. Most of those guys turned into alcoholics and junkies themselves.

Sad fact that.

Rousingly Experimental
Although the European drug scene is not necessarily my usual choice of reading material, Welsh's nouveau writing style draws the reader in through its uniqueness alone. Welsh is experimental, not only through his inventive use of the Scottish dialect, but also through the syntax of his work.

Acid House is a conglomeration of short stories, an unfortuntely small collection of poems, as well as a creativly written novela. Many of the story plots may seem redundant; however, with a closer read one can find deeper words than a simply tale of excess and depression. My personal favorite story deals with a down and out pub rat and his strangely enlightening discussion with a disillusioned God.

Indeed, Welsh has been quite prolific in the last ten years, having a number of books converted to screen, including Acid House. It is nice to see an author taking a gamble and creating something new.

what were you thinking?
I just wanted to say to the woman who bought this for her son...what were you thinking? the book is called the acid house...that should have been your first clue..

anyway...i found it delightful, yeah delightfunl, in a twisted sort of way. I enjoy Welsh's writting, though yes, it is a bit hard for us Americans to understand...i love the psychological twists