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Fresh
The clock is ticking for Sean O'Grady. Today, his psychotic brother has been granted an early release from prison. By tonight, he will come to collect the money Sean is holding. The problem? All the money's been spent. Welcome to a day in the life of Sean O'Grady, husband, father, and worker in a chicken-processing factory on the outskirts of Glasgow.
As the novel opens on another seemingly typical day, Sean's world comes crashing down when he hears the news that his brother Archie has unexpectedly been released from prison. A terrifyingly violent career criminal, Archie is coming home to collect the money Sean was holding for him. But there's a problem: Sean has spent the money, assuming he would have plenty of time to replenish Archie's stash. As the day progresses and tensions escalate, Sean explores increasingly desperate ways of getting back the money. With a tight time frame, shaped by Archie's looming return, Fresh offers the reader a charged narrative full of grim comedy and foreboding, leavened by Sean's natural optimism, resilience, and his habit of slipping into fantasies of a more dashing and glamorous existence.
As the novel opens on another seemingly typical day, Sean's world comes crashing down when he hears the news that his brother Archie has unexpectedly been released from prison. A terrifyingly violent career criminal, Archie is coming home to collect the money Sean was holding for him. But there's a problem: Sean has spent the money, assuming he would have plenty of time to replenish Archie's stash. As the day progresses and tensions escalate, Sean explores increasingly desperate ways of getting back the money. With a tight time frame, shaped by Archie's looming return, Fresh offers the reader a charged narrative full of grim comedy and foreboding, leavened by Sean's natural optimism, resilience, and his habit of slipping into fantasies of a more dashing and glamorous existence.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
7 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
About the author
Mark McNay
3 books5 followersMark McNay was born in 1965 and brought up in a mining village in central Scotland. After a failed electrical engineering course and fifteen years doing odd jobs Mark joined the UEA creative writing course in 1999. He graduated in 2003 with distinction.
In 2007 he won the Arts Foundation prize for New Fiction for Fresh, and recently won the 2007 Saltire First Book Award.
In 2007 he won the Arts Foundation prize for New Fiction for Fresh, and recently won the 2007 Saltire First Book Award.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 8, 2007
I've been reading for days and I'm only on page 50. If you know what "Ah" and "doesnay" mean and you don't mind the "c-word" AND you can handle reading about the slaughtering of chickens, this book is rather amusing.
A review from Naill Griffiths (Wreckage and Stump): Fresh moves with all the terrifying inexorability of a factory conveyor belt. It is funny, moving gripping, magical, and tragic. A brilliant debut.
Final Review: this is the weirdest book. I found it neither funny nor moving nor magical nor gripping. Tragic, maybe. There was a LOT more chicken slaughtering than I was anticipating. Beware!
A review from Naill Griffiths (Wreckage and Stump): Fresh moves with all the terrifying inexorability of a factory conveyor belt. It is funny, moving gripping, magical, and tragic. A brilliant debut.
Final Review: this is the weirdest book. I found it neither funny nor moving nor magical nor gripping. Tragic, maybe. There was a LOT more chicken slaughtering than I was anticipating. Beware!
February 17, 2024
Sean trabaja en un matadero de pollos. Está casado, tiene una hija, labura con su tío/padre adoptivo y tiene un hermano en la cárcel por vender merca.
De sopetón se entera que esa tarde sueltan a su hermano. Éste le había dejado plata a Sean para que se la cuide, y Sean se la gastó, pensando que iba a tener tiempo para recuperarla.
El libro trata sobre esas 24 horas, mezclado con flashbacks de la infancia y adolescencia de Sean. En el medio se traspasa la inevitabilidad de ser clase trabajadora, la imposibilidad de cambiar, y del alcohol como la única alegría de estos personajes.
Es un libro simple, entretenido, que no intenta ser más de lo que es. Es complicado el tema de los diálogos, porque no hay signos ortográficos que los indiquen, y a veces incluso están en medio del párrafo. Pero uno se acostumbra.
De sopetón se entera que esa tarde sueltan a su hermano. Éste le había dejado plata a Sean para que se la cuide, y Sean se la gastó, pensando que iba a tener tiempo para recuperarla.
El libro trata sobre esas 24 horas, mezclado con flashbacks de la infancia y adolescencia de Sean. En el medio se traspasa la inevitabilidad de ser clase trabajadora, la imposibilidad de cambiar, y del alcohol como la única alegría de estos personajes.
Es un libro simple, entretenido, que no intenta ser más de lo que es. Es complicado el tema de los diálogos, porque no hay signos ortográficos que los indiquen, y a veces incluso están en medio del párrafo. Pero uno se acostumbra.
August 9, 2017
It was a quick read with a LOT of Scottish dialect, akin to Irvine Welsh's novels. In fact, it was recommended to me on the strength of my being an Irvine Welsh fan. More tales of woe from the lower class, but that's the way it is. Like I said, a quick, compelling read.
May 20, 2019
This was definitely a different book. The author was raised in Scotland so he wrote the book in a Scottish brogue. Hard to understand it until you figure out what some of the words mean.
It wasn’t too bad of a story, but I didn’t like the ending at all.
I won’t read this author again.
It wasn’t too bad of a story, but I didn’t like the ending at all.
I won’t read this author again.
March 14, 2020
Set in Scotland, dialogue once you get the hang of it is great, loved the chicken factory and the way he dealt with the reptition and boredom !
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
July 24, 2007
Mark McNay's debut novel, “Fresh,” is a dark, violent, frequently hilarious book, one where the reader is delighted to feel a little out of sync, slightly off-kilter. Using the working-class Scottish dialect throughout “Fresh,” Mark places his characters firmly in their physical space--whether that be the town of Royston, the Fresh Chicken factory floor, or the family room, where relations poke and rag each other, the way families do, not entirely without judgment, not entirely without affection--but after a few pages, the language becomes second nature to the reader, part of the joy of the book, as the characters quickly emerge, and you get swept up in the story.
There's a remarkably tangible sense of our surroundings in “Fresh.” After a few dozen pages, as the characters light smoke after smoke, we can almost see the tobacco haze in the air. A simple act like Sean and Albert cleaning the conveyor after a day's work at the chicken factory, brings lurid sights and stinging smells to our senses. An extended fantasia about a Norman Rockwell-esque family dinner ends with a breathtaking shock. Mark writes with telling detail about the town and the people who live there; the muddy streets, the bitter cold, the ambiance of the pub, the living room or kitchen where genuine warmth has been shared, shocking violence perpetrated.
There are several sections in “Fresh” where, writing of Sean's fantasy daydreams of a better life, or in creating an analogy that reflects his circumstances, like the lion hunting the gazelle near the end of the book, Mark finds a way to take us out of the story to draw us further in, almost like a predator maneuvering its prey far from safety. It' a wonderful display of a true artist's control of his craft.
In “Fresh,” we get a truly monstrous villain in Sean's brother Archie; from the same background, subject to the same influences as Sean, yet already slid down the black hole that Sean is desperately trying to avoid. Archie carries a sense of menace with him, a shiver-making premonition of danger to come throughout the book. The scene where he metes out his idea of justice upon a man who has been with his girl Lizzie while he was locked up is one of the most brutal scenes I've read; both for the act perpetrated, and the utter calm and cool with which Archie carries out the punishment. When he is in the scene, all else stills, and he demands our attention, like every character who meets Archie's fury, and has it change their lives, not for the better. Mark expertly illustrates the differences between predator and prey; and how, in an environment of privation and want, one must be able to avoid being the latter, even if one is not at all inclined to be the former.
Mark McNay writes with tenderness and empathy for the plight of the people in the story, especially Sean O'Grady, our protagonist, whose circumstances make us to cringe at the situations he helps bring upon himself. Even as Mark has us view Sean with sympathy, he never lets him off the hook for the decisions he makes. We see what his actions will bring about, and still…onward he plunges. Mark McNay has the ability to move and horrify, entertain and engage, giving us the full spectrum of emotions, all sometimes in bewilderingly close proximity to the other.
There's a remarkably tangible sense of our surroundings in “Fresh.” After a few dozen pages, as the characters light smoke after smoke, we can almost see the tobacco haze in the air. A simple act like Sean and Albert cleaning the conveyor after a day's work at the chicken factory, brings lurid sights and stinging smells to our senses. An extended fantasia about a Norman Rockwell-esque family dinner ends with a breathtaking shock. Mark writes with telling detail about the town and the people who live there; the muddy streets, the bitter cold, the ambiance of the pub, the living room or kitchen where genuine warmth has been shared, shocking violence perpetrated.
There are several sections in “Fresh” where, writing of Sean's fantasy daydreams of a better life, or in creating an analogy that reflects his circumstances, like the lion hunting the gazelle near the end of the book, Mark finds a way to take us out of the story to draw us further in, almost like a predator maneuvering its prey far from safety. It' a wonderful display of a true artist's control of his craft.
In “Fresh,” we get a truly monstrous villain in Sean's brother Archie; from the same background, subject to the same influences as Sean, yet already slid down the black hole that Sean is desperately trying to avoid. Archie carries a sense of menace with him, a shiver-making premonition of danger to come throughout the book. The scene where he metes out his idea of justice upon a man who has been with his girl Lizzie while he was locked up is one of the most brutal scenes I've read; both for the act perpetrated, and the utter calm and cool with which Archie carries out the punishment. When he is in the scene, all else stills, and he demands our attention, like every character who meets Archie's fury, and has it change their lives, not for the better. Mark expertly illustrates the differences between predator and prey; and how, in an environment of privation and want, one must be able to avoid being the latter, even if one is not at all inclined to be the former.
Mark McNay writes with tenderness and empathy for the plight of the people in the story, especially Sean O'Grady, our protagonist, whose circumstances make us to cringe at the situations he helps bring upon himself. Even as Mark has us view Sean with sympathy, he never lets him off the hook for the decisions he makes. We see what his actions will bring about, and still…onward he plunges. Mark McNay has the ability to move and horrify, entertain and engage, giving us the full spectrum of emotions, all sometimes in bewilderingly close proximity to the other.
September 9, 2008
REVIEW I DID FOR THE ROCKY MTN NEWS
Author's background: McNay was raised in a mining village in central Scotland. After a failed electrical engineering course and 15 years doing odd jobs, he graduated from a creative writing course at a Scottish university and began his writing career. He lives in Norwich.
Plot in a nutshell: Sean works in a chicken factory, waiting for the birds to come down his line where he will hoist them high into the sky and send them off. The story takes place in one day, with plenty of flashbacks, dreams and fantastical imaginings.
Sean has a big problem to solve. His brother Archie, a hardened, drug-dealing criminal, is coming home from jail early. Prior to jail, Archie left a large amount of money with his little brother for safekeeping, and Sean, expecting Archie to be in for awhile, spent a good bit of it. Archie is the violent sort and is expecting the total when he gets home.
Sean desperately begins a search to get the money together and runs into some hooligans and the like in doing so. But nothing compares to the violence or fear that Archie is about to bring down on his little brother's household.
Sample of prose: "It was scary waitin in the car. Ah heard a window breakin and things crashin and every time a car passed on the main road Ah thought is was the polis. Eventually Archie and Sammy appeared from the side of the house carryin a bed sheet between them. They ran to the back of the car and Ah felt the suspension go down with the weight of it. The boot slammed and they were in the car. They were giggling like wee lasies. Archie drove with no lights till we got on the main road. Then he was off like Jackie Stewart again... Everybody was smoking and drinkin and talking. Ah couldnay understand them coz of their accents."
Author reminds me of: Nick Hornby, for his original Scottish sense of voice and language, and his mix of the macabre with humor.
Best reason to read: The story is told in first person, alternating with third person, somewhat in the vein of the popular television show The Office. The language difference from the UK makes it even more enjoyable. As the author uses local dialect, we recognize the word, but realize that McNay has given it multiple meanings. While the language can be rough and there are a few R-rated scenes, this is a compelling, fun read.
Justin Matott
Author's background: McNay was raised in a mining village in central Scotland. After a failed electrical engineering course and 15 years doing odd jobs, he graduated from a creative writing course at a Scottish university and began his writing career. He lives in Norwich.
Plot in a nutshell: Sean works in a chicken factory, waiting for the birds to come down his line where he will hoist them high into the sky and send them off. The story takes place in one day, with plenty of flashbacks, dreams and fantastical imaginings.
Sean has a big problem to solve. His brother Archie, a hardened, drug-dealing criminal, is coming home from jail early. Prior to jail, Archie left a large amount of money with his little brother for safekeeping, and Sean, expecting Archie to be in for awhile, spent a good bit of it. Archie is the violent sort and is expecting the total when he gets home.
Sean desperately begins a search to get the money together and runs into some hooligans and the like in doing so. But nothing compares to the violence or fear that Archie is about to bring down on his little brother's household.
Sample of prose: "It was scary waitin in the car. Ah heard a window breakin and things crashin and every time a car passed on the main road Ah thought is was the polis. Eventually Archie and Sammy appeared from the side of the house carryin a bed sheet between them. They ran to the back of the car and Ah felt the suspension go down with the weight of it. The boot slammed and they were in the car. They were giggling like wee lasies. Archie drove with no lights till we got on the main road. Then he was off like Jackie Stewart again... Everybody was smoking and drinkin and talking. Ah couldnay understand them coz of their accents."
Author reminds me of: Nick Hornby, for his original Scottish sense of voice and language, and his mix of the macabre with humor.
Best reason to read: The story is told in first person, alternating with third person, somewhat in the vein of the popular television show The Office. The language difference from the UK makes it even more enjoyable. As the author uses local dialect, we recognize the word, but realize that McNay has given it multiple meanings. While the language can be rough and there are a few R-rated scenes, this is a compelling, fun read.
Justin Matott
March 2, 2012
This is a debut novel that is obviously inspired by Welsh and Niall Griffiths. Written in the first and third person in an easy to understand dialect it tells the day in the life of a blue collar worker in a chicken processing plant, sean o'grady - looking at his easy pleasures and the crosses that he has to bear.
Most of these are based around his brother, archie - as we move backward and forward through time showing the relationship. In the past, we have his excalating descent into crime - from joy riding to drugs - in the present, we know that he is coming out of jail and wants back the £1K that he asked his brother to look.
Sean has spent this on (and this is revealed in comic stages) - his daughters school trip, christmas, his gambling addiction.
There is a great bit in the middle of the book where he has borrowed the money from his uncle and heads off to try and win more in a game of cards in the despatch department - you think cliche and cause you do care about the character, will him not to go and lose the lot - before he is intercepted by Archies henchman and relieved of the money.
The tension in the day escalates and to escape his brothers clutches, he first dobs him in to the police (nicely linked to a childhood friend), before having to stab him after he escaped the arrest. This is how the book ends.
An exceptional debut, although nothing too new. Managed to read about 200 pages in a day, as i was ill and the humour drove it forward.
Most of these are based around his brother, archie - as we move backward and forward through time showing the relationship. In the past, we have his excalating descent into crime - from joy riding to drugs - in the present, we know that he is coming out of jail and wants back the £1K that he asked his brother to look.
Sean has spent this on (and this is revealed in comic stages) - his daughters school trip, christmas, his gambling addiction.
There is a great bit in the middle of the book where he has borrowed the money from his uncle and heads off to try and win more in a game of cards in the despatch department - you think cliche and cause you do care about the character, will him not to go and lose the lot - before he is intercepted by Archies henchman and relieved of the money.
The tension in the day escalates and to escape his brothers clutches, he first dobs him in to the police (nicely linked to a childhood friend), before having to stab him after he escaped the arrest. This is how the book ends.
An exceptional debut, although nothing too new. Managed to read about 200 pages in a day, as i was ill and the humour drove it forward.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2023
This was such a gruesome read. It so vividly relates the reality of growing up in a scheme in Scotland, especially for boys of a certain time period. There are some moments of light, and it’s made clear Sean’s family means everything to him, even to the point of self destruction. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time reading it because his brother Archie was excellently, terrifyingly characterised as the antagonist whose violence and cruelty knew no limits, and the plot was very fast paced, set over the space of just a day. However, I went in expecting there to be more of a grey area in the brothers relationship, I’d have appreciated a stronger bond between the two/ some more redeeming qualities to Archie because he was just so awful it was hard to read at points or see why any of them gave a damn about him.
I will say, if people are bothered by the dialect used in the writing that is not the author’s problem. I understood it perfectly and most people I know would too. Personally I find dialect to be a really engaging and realistic way of fleshing out a story.
Overall an interesting read.
I will say, if people are bothered by the dialect used in the writing that is not the author’s problem. I understood it perfectly and most people I know would too. Personally I find dialect to be a really engaging and realistic way of fleshing out a story.
Overall an interesting read.
June 1, 2015
A day in the life of Sean O'Grady - and it's not going well. His brother is about to get out of jail, and discover that the money he'd trusted to Sean is missing a good portion. Sean needs to come up with the cash, fast.
Weaving through Sean's past through his reveries and memories, and the present through Sean's troubles and worries, "Fresh" brings - if you'll pardon the pun - a fresh approach to a familiar style of tale telling. The rough and tumble language of the working class poor is gritty and real, as is the humour of coping that comes so easily to the same. Having grown up in England, much of this novel made me blink in remembrance, either linguistic, or just in the style and description that McNay dabs with such a deft brush.
At times even funny, this dark tale is sure to sit well with those looking for a harsh, but literary, experience. There is social commentary as well as narrative, and the balance of character and action is appreciated.
Weaving through Sean's past through his reveries and memories, and the present through Sean's troubles and worries, "Fresh" brings - if you'll pardon the pun - a fresh approach to a familiar style of tale telling. The rough and tumble language of the working class poor is gritty and real, as is the humour of coping that comes so easily to the same. Having grown up in England, much of this novel made me blink in remembrance, either linguistic, or just in the style and description that McNay dabs with such a deft brush.
At times even funny, this dark tale is sure to sit well with those looking for a harsh, but literary, experience. There is social commentary as well as narrative, and the balance of character and action is appreciated.
July 28, 2009
Written in a Scottish dialect that is easy to get into this really adds to the realism of this book - you can hear the characters chattering in your head. An absolutely brilliant book about a working class guy, Sean, who slaves at a chicken factory and whose life stinks. He tries to free himself from the noxious cloud that surrounds him which is caused not only by the scent of rotting chickens but by his psychotic brother Archie who is always hanging around, ready to put the boot into Sean's head should he step out of line. It is not all gore though, there are happy times in Sean's life too, notably his adoration of his wife. Altogether a startlingly vivid book.
September 27, 2007
One single day of all h*ll breaking loose for a man who works at a chicken processing plant in ireland when his criminal brother gets out of jail 6 months early and wishes to claim some spent money left in his custody.
The author did a great job of capturing the senses with sight, smell, sound and and a real feel for blue collar ireland on the criminal fringe. The protagonist predictably suffers, is chased and "gets away", but I still couldn't just put it down and I can put things down pretty easily.
The author did a great job of capturing the senses with sight, smell, sound and and a real feel for blue collar ireland on the criminal fringe. The protagonist predictably suffers, is chased and "gets away", but I still couldn't just put it down and I can put things down pretty easily.
September 29, 2008
I devoured this entertaining novel in a weeks time. That's saying a lot for me. Initially I complained that the author's choice to eliminate all conversation punctuation was annoying, but I quickly adapted to this style and decided I rather liked it after all. Better than this, it written with a Scottish accent. By the time I had read a couple of chapters I found myself thinking and speaking with similar mannerisms. The story is a relatively old one, but the delivery is Fresh.
June 9, 2008
Luckily, this was a short book. I got it off the Barnes and Noble "Discover New Writers" shelf - normally I love everything from their selections. Not so much this one.
It was a quick read, but I didn't like it all that much. Not sure if it was the F-Bombs every other word, or the Scottish slang, or the chicken killing?!? Either way...not on the list of books I'll pass on to friends.
It was a quick read, but I didn't like it all that much. Not sure if it was the F-Bombs every other word, or the Scottish slang, or the chicken killing?!? Either way...not on the list of books I'll pass on to friends.
September 30, 2010
The author does a great job in his debut novel at keeping the pace up, as we get to look at an anything but typical day into the life of Sean O’Grady. In a story where characters make bad choices and are struck with plenty of bad luck, the more I read, the more difficult I found to put this book down. It shows the good and bad sides of family relationships, which I found rather interesting.
May 16, 2009
McNay writes a gripping novel. The tension starts right away and builds marvelously right to the end, which feels like the only possible end there could be. I wouldn't change anything. He has a great way of describing things, too. Very gritty. Real.
February 19, 2017
Draws you in
As someone who lives as far south in England without getting your eyes wet, I struggled with the Scottish dialect to start with. I soon grew used to it and really enjoyed this book.
As someone who lives as far south in England without getting your eyes wet, I struggled with the Scottish dialect to start with. I soon grew used to it and really enjoyed this book.
February 10, 2008
Please check out my full review of this book on my blog here: Buy Fresh.
October 30, 2008
If you can put aside the bad language (literally ever sentence) this is a really clever book with an interesting plot. The way structure of the book is what makes it.
May 24, 2009
Entertaining in its accuracy of language, but the ending after slogging through the a lot of inconsequentials was rather blah.
May 21, 2009
refreshing.
January 10, 2011
The dialogue in this book is great, i like the english cuss words, made me laugh, other wise the plot is alright 2 brothers fight 2 their death over money... 3 stars
July 24, 2011
Quite funny....eventhough the story is quite depressing...but very well written and nice "black" humor.
August 20, 2012
I read the first 70 pages then read the last ten pages and it was enough for me ! I could not see the humor ,did not enjoy the book at all .
April 29, 2013
n copertina c'è scritto "una storia di amore fraterno, che vi commuoverà e vi farà ridere a crepapelle". Secondo me hanno sbagliato libro.
September 1, 2014
E' il racconto amaro, violento e divertente di una giornata cruciale nella dura vita dello scozzese Sean, tra polli da macellare, ricordi d'infanzia e complicati rapporti familiari.
October 22, 2021
once i got to grips with the scots/english enjoyment followed..
June 15, 2010
Very well written, great read
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews