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Seven Stories
Here, for the first time in any audio form, AK Press Audio is proud to present award-winning revolutionary Scots writer James Kelman reading from a selection of his finest stories. Seven stories are showcased here, including the legendary one minute "Acid" and the 42-minute "a wide runner." Also features "the same as here again," "Roofsliding," "Learning the Story," "The Witness," and "Are you drinking sir?"
JAMES KELMAN was the first of the "new" generation of Scottish working class writers, paving the way for the likes of Irvine Welsh. He has written numerous novels and collections of short stories, including “how late it was, how late,” which won the 1995 Booker Prize, amongst considerable controversy. His collection of essays Some Recent Attacks: Essays Cultural And Political is published by AK Press.
JAMES KELMAN was the first of the "new" generation of Scottish working class writers, paving the way for the likes of Irvine Welsh. He has written numerous novels and collections of short stories, including “how late it was, how late,” which won the 1995 Booker Prize, amongst considerable controversy. His collection of essays Some Recent Attacks: Essays Cultural And Political is published by AK Press.
Audio CD
First published November 1, 1997
8 people want to read
About the author
James Kelman
80 books270 followersKelman says:
My own background is as normal or abnormal as anyone else's. Born and bred in Govan and Drumchapel, inner city tenement to the housing scheme homeland on the outer reaches of the city. Four brothers, my mother a full time parent, my father in the picture framemaking and gilding trade, trying to operate a one man business and I left school at 15 etc. etc. (...) For one reason or another, by the age of 21/22 I decided to write stories. The stories I wanted to write would derive from my own background, my own socio-cultural experience. I wanted to write as one of my own people, I wanted to write and remain a member of my own community.
During the 1970s he published a first collection of short stories. He became involved in Philip Hobsbaum's creative writing group in Glasgow along with Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead, and his short stories began to appear in magazines. These stories introduced a distinctive style, expressing first person internal monologues in a pared-down prose utilising Glaswegian speech patterns, though avoiding for the most part the quasi-phonetic rendition of Tom Leonard. Kelman's developing style has been influential on the succeeding generation of Scottish novelists, including Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner and Janice Galloway. In 1998, Kelman received the Stakis Prize for "Scottish Writer of the Year" for his collection of short stories 'The Good Times.'
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/au...
My own background is as normal or abnormal as anyone else's. Born and bred in Govan and Drumchapel, inner city tenement to the housing scheme homeland on the outer reaches of the city. Four brothers, my mother a full time parent, my father in the picture framemaking and gilding trade, trying to operate a one man business and I left school at 15 etc. etc. (...) For one reason or another, by the age of 21/22 I decided to write stories. The stories I wanted to write would derive from my own background, my own socio-cultural experience. I wanted to write as one of my own people, I wanted to write and remain a member of my own community.
During the 1970s he published a first collection of short stories. He became involved in Philip Hobsbaum's creative writing group in Glasgow along with Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead, and his short stories began to appear in magazines. These stories introduced a distinctive style, expressing first person internal monologues in a pared-down prose utilising Glaswegian speech patterns, though avoiding for the most part the quasi-phonetic rendition of Tom Leonard. Kelman's developing style has been influential on the succeeding generation of Scottish novelists, including Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner and Janice Galloway. In 1998, Kelman received the Stakis Prize for "Scottish Writer of the Year" for his collection of short stories 'The Good Times.'
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/au...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 31, 2015
I've listened to all of these short stories (except "A Wide Runner") at least twice. The fact that Kelman reads the stories himself in his Glaswegian accent is particularly great and adds to their ambiance. "Roofsliding" is my favorite. Except for "Acid," however, the stories lack a certain sting.
December 20, 2023
My initial thought was that the words here presented are burning in their way to be lyrical, tragic in the way they are made worn by the seemingly lived reality behind them, and something that should be engaged by more readers and listeners. To hear it in the author’s voice is an an added joy. Will ruminate on these and undoubtedly return to them and other works by this author.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews