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Bowling Ball
** Shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize 2004 **
** Shortlisted for the Brit Writers Awards 2011 **
** Longlisted for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2012 **
Starting with frenzied masturbation, kerb-crawling businessmen being blackmailed with Polaroid photographs and an ambitious plan to improve the Scottish national football team by having casual sex with Brazilian women, BOWLING BALL tells the story of unemployed anti-hero Dempsy and the turbulent relationships he has with his serial-shagging flatmate Ronnie and Ronnie’s cousin Chaz, an ill-tempered lunatic with a finger in every criminal pie in the city.
From ice-cream defecation to sleazy liaisons in cinemas, BOWLING BALL is not for the faint-hearted. Like Irvine Welsh or Chad Kultgen? There's a pretty good chance you will love this multi-award nominated novel.
** Shortlisted for the Brit Writers Awards 2011 **
** Longlisted for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2012 **
Starting with frenzied masturbation, kerb-crawling businessmen being blackmailed with Polaroid photographs and an ambitious plan to improve the Scottish national football team by having casual sex with Brazilian women, BOWLING BALL tells the story of unemployed anti-hero Dempsy and the turbulent relationships he has with his serial-shagging flatmate Ronnie and Ronnie’s cousin Chaz, an ill-tempered lunatic with a finger in every criminal pie in the city.
From ice-cream defecation to sleazy liaisons in cinemas, BOWLING BALL is not for the faint-hearted. Like Irvine Welsh or Chad Kultgen? There's a pretty good chance you will love this multi-award nominated novel.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2013
6 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Escobar Walker
8 books6 followersEscobar Walker is the author of contemporary Scottish fiction.
His first novel BOWLING BALL was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize and Brit Writers Awards 2011, and also long-listed for the US Amazon Breakthrough Author Awards 2012 prior to being published by the UK imprint of Twisted Literature.
His second novel SIDEWAYS MOVERS is due out in 2014.
His first novel BOWLING BALL was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize and Brit Writers Awards 2011, and also long-listed for the US Amazon Breakthrough Author Awards 2012 prior to being published by the UK imprint of Twisted Literature.
His second novel SIDEWAYS MOVERS is due out in 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 12, 2014
One of the best debut novels I have read in a while, and certainly the best Scottish author I have read since Irvine Welsh.
The characters that Escobar Walker (Scottish or Spanish) has created are so real. They jump out the page and headbutt you! It makes me want to go and give someone a Glasgow Kiss right now!
The characters that Escobar Walker (Scottish or Spanish) has created are so real. They jump out the page and headbutt you! It makes me want to go and give someone a Glasgow Kiss right now!
August 16, 2014
Funniest book I have read in ages. If you like Irvine Welsh, you are going to love Escobar Walker.
October 29, 2013
Disappointing use of obvious talent
I wanted to like this book, I really did. Escobar Walker is a very, very good writer with a massive talent for observation and for conveying those characteristic traits of people that make them so individual and entertaining. This is the kind of skill that has given people like Billy Connolly a long career and makes for a potentially great writer. Unfortunately Walker isn’t making the best of his considerable writing skill or his capacity for characterisation and cutting humour.
For me, Bowling Ball was one long exercise in relaying as many Scottish clichés as possible in 90,000 words. All the main characters speak with one voice, in that they’re almost indiscernible from each other, blending in to one long narrative throughout the book. To identify each character Walker uses the phrase “my cousin’s flatmate”, or a version of it dozens of times throughout, which is, I suppose, a clumsy way of letting the reader know which character is narrating but becomes annoying as the book progresses. Much simpler to give each character a distinct personality and voice or even stick the character name at the chapter heading.
Every character encountered was either a Frances Begbie (violent Neanderthal) derivative or a victim. None of the characters developed at all during their stories, and if being completely honest, the book didn’t really have a definite plot. This isn’t always a huge problem (see Trainspotting) if the characters have an interesting journey, but the characters Walker has created aren’t allowed any growth and are very much trapped and stunted by the stereotypical values, attitudes and traits that Escobar has saddled them with. Really, the image of Scots as a nation of violent, drunken, drugged up wife-beaters and hoors has been done to death and I was hoping for something a little more intelligent from a writer as good as Escobar. In many ways the image presented in Bowling Ball of the people in its pages reads like it was written by someone who has a trace of knowledge of the area and its people and has just taken all the most spiteful and reprehensible actions and characteristics to drive forward a very wearing and very negative, but often very funny story. This showed in the inconsistencies in the characters regional dialect, often mixing Edinburgh-isms which Glasgow patter. For me this was lazy and added to the obviousness of the plot and characters of the book.
I was incredibly frustrated reading this book because the writer could be an exceptional talent, but must plot an engaging story and populate it with believable and engaging characters who are allowed to behave badly, show moments of humanity in amongst the filth and most importantly to grow as the story progresses.
I will read the next book in the series, because Escobar has me invested in where these people will go despite making them predictable and dull; his writing is that good. Bowling Ball is a debut novel and is entertaining at points, I’ve certainly read debut novels that haven’t been anywhere near as good as Bowling Ball. The writer will have developed considerably in the process of writing it and with that in mind I’d love to see Walker stretch his legs and push himself to construct a story that displays how talented he really is and will follow his writing career and his development in future.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. Escobar Walker is a very, very good writer with a massive talent for observation and for conveying those characteristic traits of people that make them so individual and entertaining. This is the kind of skill that has given people like Billy Connolly a long career and makes for a potentially great writer. Unfortunately Walker isn’t making the best of his considerable writing skill or his capacity for characterisation and cutting humour.
For me, Bowling Ball was one long exercise in relaying as many Scottish clichés as possible in 90,000 words. All the main characters speak with one voice, in that they’re almost indiscernible from each other, blending in to one long narrative throughout the book. To identify each character Walker uses the phrase “my cousin’s flatmate”, or a version of it dozens of times throughout, which is, I suppose, a clumsy way of letting the reader know which character is narrating but becomes annoying as the book progresses. Much simpler to give each character a distinct personality and voice or even stick the character name at the chapter heading.
Every character encountered was either a Frances Begbie (violent Neanderthal) derivative or a victim. None of the characters developed at all during their stories, and if being completely honest, the book didn’t really have a definite plot. This isn’t always a huge problem (see Trainspotting) if the characters have an interesting journey, but the characters Walker has created aren’t allowed any growth and are very much trapped and stunted by the stereotypical values, attitudes and traits that Escobar has saddled them with. Really, the image of Scots as a nation of violent, drunken, drugged up wife-beaters and hoors has been done to death and I was hoping for something a little more intelligent from a writer as good as Escobar. In many ways the image presented in Bowling Ball of the people in its pages reads like it was written by someone who has a trace of knowledge of the area and its people and has just taken all the most spiteful and reprehensible actions and characteristics to drive forward a very wearing and very negative, but often very funny story. This showed in the inconsistencies in the characters regional dialect, often mixing Edinburgh-isms which Glasgow patter. For me this was lazy and added to the obviousness of the plot and characters of the book.
I was incredibly frustrated reading this book because the writer could be an exceptional talent, but must plot an engaging story and populate it with believable and engaging characters who are allowed to behave badly, show moments of humanity in amongst the filth and most importantly to grow as the story progresses.
I will read the next book in the series, because Escobar has me invested in where these people will go despite making them predictable and dull; his writing is that good. Bowling Ball is a debut novel and is entertaining at points, I’ve certainly read debut novels that haven’t been anywhere near as good as Bowling Ball. The writer will have developed considerably in the process of writing it and with that in mind I’d love to see Walker stretch his legs and push himself to construct a story that displays how talented he really is and will follow his writing career and his development in future.
February 22, 2014
**SINCE THIS REVIEW ESCOBAR WALKER, UNDER PSEUDONYM, OR A FRIEND HAVE ENDEAVOURED TO GIVE REVIEWLESS 1* RATINGS TO ALL OF MY WORK WHILST RATING AND REVIEWING HIS OWN BOOK AT 5 STARS. BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT REVIEWING HIS BOOKS CONSTRUCTIVELY.**
I've been wanting to read this book for a while. I've done my research and Escobar Walker has created a very slick looking package around his book, from websites to cover art. It's top notch. So when I got my new Kindle for Christmas the first thing I did was download it, and I don't know, I'm sort of disappointed.
It's a triple decker of first person narratives which follow under-achiever Dempster, his lothario flatmate Ronnie, and Ronnie's psychotic cousin Chaz as they bumble around between the local pubs and nightclubs, and their own homes. The product description of this book will give you everything else you need, given that it describes the entire plot, and more.
So here's what I think. The author has taken the most extreme of the hilariously unpleasant aspects of what works so well for Irvine Welsh, and endeavoured to create his own tale using only those aspects. When it works, it works very well. The bizarre and obscene set pieces that Walker creates are toe curling and really funny, the back seat of the cinema scene or the Nintendo sessions round at Chaz's place for example. The banter he's drawn up, similarly, made me chuckle at several points. The acute observations and peripheral characters are interesting whilst at the same time funny, a quality insight into the seedier side of Glasgow.
BUT. The book is riddled with grammatical errors, missing or incorrect punctuation, and missing words. It's hard to believe that a book that was nominated for an award almost 3 years ago has not been cleaned up and edited since. This is okay with me though, because my personal opinion is that the story and the characters are infinitely more important than whether there should be a full stop or a comma after speech. Unfortunately the story ambles along aimlessly, pinging from one amusingly obscene set piece to the next, and the three main characters are essentially reworkings of Renton, Sick Boy and Begbie from Trainspotting but without the same differences of characteristic or cadence, or the creepy charisma that Welsh pumps into them. Under-achieving smart ass, enterprising lothario, criminal psycho. It's the same voice just describing a different life. I hate being this harsh, and sincerely hope the author will forgive me for it, but with some honing and focussing of his considerable talent, I think Walker is capable of delivering a superb novel. Sadly, this isn't it.
I'll still be buying the next installment when it's released, because I want to see how he develops his characters, if, that is, he chooses to develop them at all. I truly hope he does, because it'll pull a 5* review in from me. It's worth a read if you like your humour dark, your psychos violent, and your ice-cream faecal.
I've been wanting to read this book for a while. I've done my research and Escobar Walker has created a very slick looking package around his book, from websites to cover art. It's top notch. So when I got my new Kindle for Christmas the first thing I did was download it, and I don't know, I'm sort of disappointed.
It's a triple decker of first person narratives which follow under-achiever Dempster, his lothario flatmate Ronnie, and Ronnie's psychotic cousin Chaz as they bumble around between the local pubs and nightclubs, and their own homes. The product description of this book will give you everything else you need, given that it describes the entire plot, and more.
So here's what I think. The author has taken the most extreme of the hilariously unpleasant aspects of what works so well for Irvine Welsh, and endeavoured to create his own tale using only those aspects. When it works, it works very well. The bizarre and obscene set pieces that Walker creates are toe curling and really funny, the back seat of the cinema scene or the Nintendo sessions round at Chaz's place for example. The banter he's drawn up, similarly, made me chuckle at several points. The acute observations and peripheral characters are interesting whilst at the same time funny, a quality insight into the seedier side of Glasgow.
BUT. The book is riddled with grammatical errors, missing or incorrect punctuation, and missing words. It's hard to believe that a book that was nominated for an award almost 3 years ago has not been cleaned up and edited since. This is okay with me though, because my personal opinion is that the story and the characters are infinitely more important than whether there should be a full stop or a comma after speech. Unfortunately the story ambles along aimlessly, pinging from one amusingly obscene set piece to the next, and the three main characters are essentially reworkings of Renton, Sick Boy and Begbie from Trainspotting but without the same differences of characteristic or cadence, or the creepy charisma that Welsh pumps into them. Under-achieving smart ass, enterprising lothario, criminal psycho. It's the same voice just describing a different life. I hate being this harsh, and sincerely hope the author will forgive me for it, but with some honing and focussing of his considerable talent, I think Walker is capable of delivering a superb novel. Sadly, this isn't it.
I'll still be buying the next installment when it's released, because I want to see how he develops his characters, if, that is, he chooses to develop them at all. I truly hope he does, because it'll pull a 5* review in from me. It's worth a read if you like your humour dark, your psychos violent, and your ice-cream faecal.
May 12, 2014
Its been a while since I read a book with so many laugh out loud moments in it. Very good 'close to the bone' humour. Good characters and some cringey moments especially the 'ice cream surprise'. Highly recommended debut book and I look forward to the next installment
August 18, 2014
Absolutely hilarious. Bowling Ball had me laughing out loud in several places. Rude, but brilliant!!!!!!
June 20, 2018
Possibly the worst written book I have ever read. It's as if someone has fed all of Irvine Welsh's books into a shit AI and got it to spunk out a book.
Terrible grammar mistakes throughout, mixes up characters halfway through chapters, one character loses his job around the midpoint then miraculously seems to be back doing it in the penultimate chapter.
The worst part that comes to mind is the author refers to the "Strathi Labdicks" seemingly oblivious to the fact that when Welsh uses this term (Labdicks) it refers to The Lothian and Borders Police, so how the fuck can there be such a thing as the Strathclyde Lothian and Borders Police?
Read the book as part of my Amazon Unlimited, would be livid if I'd actually paid good money for this piece of trash.
Terrible grammar mistakes throughout, mixes up characters halfway through chapters, one character loses his job around the midpoint then miraculously seems to be back doing it in the penultimate chapter.
The worst part that comes to mind is the author refers to the "Strathi Labdicks" seemingly oblivious to the fact that when Welsh uses this term (Labdicks) it refers to The Lothian and Borders Police, so how the fuck can there be such a thing as the Strathclyde Lothian and Borders Police?
Read the book as part of my Amazon Unlimited, would be livid if I'd actually paid good money for this piece of trash.
September 2, 2014
Pants droppingly funny and rude all at the same time.
Think Irvine Welsh but with defecation in ice-cream.
BRILLIANT!
Think Irvine Welsh but with defecation in ice-cream.
BRILLIANT!
August 11, 2019
Brutal!
Phew!!! This book has delighted and horrified me in equal measure. Love the writing style!! like some kind of sinister gritty poetry. Exactly my kind of borderline humour. Unashamedly on a knife edge. Gripping and fast paced although definately not for the faint hearted or easily offended. I actually found it great to read as the language and style although brutal was also full of flair and brilliance!
Phew!!! This book has delighted and horrified me in equal measure. Love the writing style!! like some kind of sinister gritty poetry. Exactly my kind of borderline humour. Unashamedly on a knife edge. Gripping and fast paced although definately not for the faint hearted or easily offended. I actually found it great to read as the language and style although brutal was also full of flair and brilliance!
August 19, 2020
Simply put this book is a terrible collection of stereotypes, devoid of plot or character depths. Don't bother.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews