Outside in: Selected Prose

by Alastair Reid

Now 82 years old, Alastair Reid is one of Scotland's foremost literary figures but his work is currently out of print in the UK (most recent publication is Canongate's "Oases" from 1997 but this represented only a fraction of his work). The bulk of his prose has long been unavailable, so this wide-ranging new collection of prose will present a fresh and comprehensive overview of his achievements, and will appeal to existing fans and new readers.Admired worldwide as a supreme craftsman in poetry, prose and translation, Reid is a key figure in modern Scottish literature, a man who represents through his life and work the cosmopolitan internationalism Scotland aspires to. Friend and confidant of some of the giants of 20th-century literature, he has written definitive appreciations of Robert Graves, Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cabrera Infante and Mario Vargas Llosa, as well as proving to be one of the most acute and acerbic observers of modern Scotland and what it is to be Scottish. As Scotland finds and defines its place in the global scene, his work has never been more relevant.

315 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Alastair Reid was a Scottish poet, translator, essayist, and scholar of Latin American literature. He joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1959 and translated works by Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges. Although he was known for translations, his own poems gained notice during his lifetime. He had lived in Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Morocco, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and in the United States.

Among his many books for children are A Balloon for a Blunderbuss, I Keep Changing, and Millionaires (all illustrated by Bob Gill), and Supposing (illustrated by Abe Birnbaum). In 2008 he published two career-spanning collections of work, Inside Out: Selected Poetry and Translations and Outside In: Selected Prose.

Reviews

[David Bramhall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The finest writer of English prose I know. His writing is unfussy, clear and eloquent and always a joy to read. I am an author myself, and keep him constantly in mind as an example of what I should be doing when I write (sadly I often fall short). Before his death in 2014 I had a brief email conversation with him and found him friendly and charming. The one question I never dared ask was why, after his youth in beautiful Dumfries and Galloway and many years of traveling and living in Spain, he chose to end his days in New York.