Customer Reviews
A total waste of paper!!! - By: Mighty Meadow, 27 Sep 2008 
It's hard to imagine that this book was written by the same author who gave us Trainspotting & The Acid House. It seems that Welsh has finallly run out of ideas & you could be forgiven for thinking that these short stories were actuallly written by a third rate Irvine Welsh copyist. Please take my advice & spend your hard earned cash on something else. On this evidence Mr Welsh is definitely yesterday's man. (I gave this book one star only because Amazon don't let you give any less).
A case of 'writers block' perhaps?.... - By: A. Joseph, 09 Sep 2008 
If You Liked School, You'll Love Work The first few words of the first story had me captivated but after a few pages, the story kind of lost it's way & I found myself losing concentration regularly. It was pretty much the same with the next 3 stories & I was finding myself actuallly looking forward to the end of the book which isn't a good thing! That was until I started reading the final story, Kingdom of Fife which, in one word, is FANTASTIC! Definitely a case of leaving the best until last, the story is very similar to the stories in The Acid House & I think it'd make a good mini movie. I thought the 1st 4 stories were very bland & didn't reallly go anywhere. I hate to say that as I think Welsh is literary genius.
If you like Irvine Welsh borrow this but don't buy it - By: D. Baron, 20 Aug 2008 Hugely disappointing apart from The Kingdom of Fife which is Welsh at his best, the other stories are quite frankly rubbish & wouldn't be out of place in the 1970's horror compilations I used to read as a teenager. Stick to what you know Mr Welsh, The Kingdom of Fife is a cracker but the rest is dross.
Partial return to form - By: molondas, 12 Aug 2008 
There's an interesting spread of views on this book at the time of writing. I stopped reading Welsh after Glue, which I thought was dreadful. There were already signs he was losing it in Filth, which - although very funny in parts - was boring & contrived at points, & was losing the spontaneity, wit & imagination of his first few books.
But I disagree with those who give this collection one or two stars. There's much more going on here than these reviewers give Welsh credit for, & I agree with some of the blurb that says this is a return to form.
This collection is uneven, there's no doubt about that. The first story, Rattlesnakes, is lame. In the other four stories, some of the characterization is flat & the plots contrived or silly. But the good stuff is very good, & the funny bits are hilarious. Miss Arizona & Kingdom of Fife are excellent, in different ways, & If You Liked School... & The Dogs of Lincoln Park have some very good moments.
In particular I like the way Welsh is branching out into other areas of mimicry - Chicago socialites, an expat London chav bar-owner in the Canaries, a Texan ex alcoholic etc. Welsh's ability to exploit dialectal variation & nuance & - particulary in Miss Arizona - his ability to convey the feel & sentiment of a whole American literary genre is very sophisticated & creates a richness beyond the characters & plots, such as they are. In this sense, the stories here are more ambitious than anything in the Acid House for example, & Miss Arizona in particular indicates a possible future for Welsh, writing noir crime thrillers with spooky plot twists.
A bit of a curates egg - By: P. G. Harris, 29 Jun 2008 Many of the stories in this collection are along the lines of "Irvine Welsh writes Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected".
One of the most disppointing things is the laziness of the characteristion. The Mexicans in Rattlesnakes (which is a twist on the old "burglars & toothbrushes" urban myth) are paint by numbers sterotypes & the central character in the title story seems to be the result of watching too many sub Guy Ritchie "geezer" movies. The DOGS of Lincoln Park is a deeply unfunny Sex & the City pastiche.
The collection is redeemed by the last two stories Miss Arizona, a wonderfully creepy horror story & the novella the Kingdom of Fife. The last of these is Welsh back on his Scottish home ground & while lacking the visceral thrill of Trainspotting, is thoroughly entertaining.
Worth reading, but not brilliant.
