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Reheated Cabbage: Tales of Chemical Degeneration
Never-collected tales, including outrageous early stories from the Trainspotting years, plus a raucous new novella.
Reheated Cabbage gathers stories showcasing Irvine Welsh’s trademark vaulting imagination, brilliant vernacular ear, scabrous humor, and the ability to create some of the most memorable characters in contemporary fiction. You can enjoy Christmas dinner with Begbie at his Ma’s and see how he greets his sister’s boyfriend and news of their engagement. You’ll discover in “The Rosewell Incident” why aliens speak hardcore Scots English and plan to put Midlothian roughs in charge of the planet. And you’ll be delighted to welcome back “Juice” Terry Lawson and now internationally famous DJ Carl Ewart, and watch them as they meet an old nemesis, retired schoolmaster Albert Black, under the strobe lights of a Miami Beach nightclub. These stories, most first published in small magazines and out-of-print anthologies, are all wildly offbeat and will delight both fans of and newcomers to Welsh’s world.
Reheated Cabbage gathers stories showcasing Irvine Welsh’s trademark vaulting imagination, brilliant vernacular ear, scabrous humor, and the ability to create some of the most memorable characters in contemporary fiction. You can enjoy Christmas dinner with Begbie at his Ma’s and see how he greets his sister’s boyfriend and news of their engagement. You’ll discover in “The Rosewell Incident” why aliens speak hardcore Scots English and plan to put Midlothian roughs in charge of the planet. And you’ll be delighted to welcome back “Juice” Terry Lawson and now internationally famous DJ Carl Ewart, and watch them as they meet an old nemesis, retired schoolmaster Albert Black, under the strobe lights of a Miami Beach nightclub. These stories, most first published in small magazines and out-of-print anthologies, are all wildly offbeat and will delight both fans of and newcomers to Welsh’s world.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
93 people are currently reading
1821 people want to read
About the author
Irvine Welsh
128 books7,587 followersProbably most famous for his gritty depiction of a gang of Scottish Heroin addicts, Trainspotting (1993), Welsh focuses on the darker side of human nature and drug use. All of his novels are set in his native Scotland and filled with anti-heroes, small time crooks and hooligans. Welsh manages, however to imbue these characters with a sad humanity that makes them likable despite their obvious scumbaggerry. Irvine Welsh is also known for writing in his native Edinburgh Scots dialect, making his prose challenging for the average reader unfamiliar with this style.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
September 9, 2021
Tutta colpa di Irvine?
L’ipotesi più benevola è che si tratti di una raccolta male assemblata e un po’ raffazzonata, come sembra ammettere lo stesso autore nei “ringraziamenti” di coda, mettendo insieme storie per lo più già edite qua e là nel secolo scorso in diverse riviste e contesti.
Si tratta nella maggior parte di racconti ambientati fra i personaggi delle “coree”, cioè i coatti delle aggregazioni disordinate e irregolari delle periferie edinburghesi, il mondo in cui Welsh è cresciuto e dove soprattutto ha saputo collocare in passato le sue storie migliori, a partire dal filone di Trainspotting; quindi non si può neppure invocare una vacanza dell’autore rispetto al suo habitat tipico alla volta di luoghi e soggetti inediti.
Purtroppo a distanza di decenni la prosa dell’autore scozzese ha finito per perdere la sua carica eversiva e spontaneamente provocatoria, il gergo e le detestabili azioni con cui i suoi personaggi carichi di Sex, Drugs & alcool (con poco Rock’n’roll sostituito dal football nell’empireo di costoro) agivano sul territorio deturpato dei sobborghi, atteggiandosi nel modo più politicamente scorretto che si potesse immaginare ma che oggi appare patetico e quasi commovente nella sua pulsione autodistruttiva ed autocommiseratoria.
I racconti di “Tutta colpa dell’acido” si leggono perciò con indifferenza, senso di dejà vu, protagonisti quasi tutti intercambiabili e luoghi interamente circoscritti dall’interno dei pub scalcinati o dalle strade percorse per trascinarsi dall’uno all’altro, se non altro al fine di rimandare il rientro nelle squallide abitazioni.
Resta infine l’ipotesi (a prescindere) che il buon Welsh abbia ormai stufato anche i suoi fans più fedeli e accaniti fra i quali mi annovero; anche per il solo scopo di divertimento, poiché l’autore non ha mai ambito a vertici letterari, è tempo di lasciarlo alla sua birra e alle sue pasticche...
Comunque sia, questa raccolta non funziona o, se si vuole, non funziona più.
L’ipotesi più benevola è che si tratti di una raccolta male assemblata e un po’ raffazzonata, come sembra ammettere lo stesso autore nei “ringraziamenti” di coda, mettendo insieme storie per lo più già edite qua e là nel secolo scorso in diverse riviste e contesti.
Si tratta nella maggior parte di racconti ambientati fra i personaggi delle “coree”, cioè i coatti delle aggregazioni disordinate e irregolari delle periferie edinburghesi, il mondo in cui Welsh è cresciuto e dove soprattutto ha saputo collocare in passato le sue storie migliori, a partire dal filone di Trainspotting; quindi non si può neppure invocare una vacanza dell’autore rispetto al suo habitat tipico alla volta di luoghi e soggetti inediti.
Purtroppo a distanza di decenni la prosa dell’autore scozzese ha finito per perdere la sua carica eversiva e spontaneamente provocatoria, il gergo e le detestabili azioni con cui i suoi personaggi carichi di Sex, Drugs & alcool (con poco Rock’n’roll sostituito dal football nell’empireo di costoro) agivano sul territorio deturpato dei sobborghi, atteggiandosi nel modo più politicamente scorretto che si potesse immaginare ma che oggi appare patetico e quasi commovente nella sua pulsione autodistruttiva ed autocommiseratoria.
I racconti di “Tutta colpa dell’acido” si leggono perciò con indifferenza, senso di dejà vu, protagonisti quasi tutti intercambiabili e luoghi interamente circoscritti dall’interno dei pub scalcinati o dalle strade percorse per trascinarsi dall’uno all’altro, se non altro al fine di rimandare il rientro nelle squallide abitazioni.
Resta infine l’ipotesi (a prescindere) che il buon Welsh abbia ormai stufato anche i suoi fans più fedeli e accaniti fra i quali mi annovero; anche per il solo scopo di divertimento, poiché l’autore non ha mai ambito a vertici letterari, è tempo di lasciarlo alla sua birra e alle sue pasticche...
Comunque sia, questa raccolta non funziona o, se si vuole, non funziona più.
January 17, 2018
Welsh is back. It's time for me to blather aboot this eminently readable collection of Welsh's short stories, spanning from 1994-2000. And what a cracker it is, too.
Written in Welsh's typical vernacular, complete with his idiosyncratic sense of spelling and grammar, Reheated Cabbage captures the essence of Welsh's early writing in a fantastic collection of short stories which cover everything from pills and pals to aliens addicted to Embassy cigarettes who've learned the niceties of human culture from a Scottish geezer who's hiding out from the police on-board their ship.
There's death too, of course - the collection starts with the story of a man who's so keen to catch the Hibs v.s. Hearts game that he leads his wife into the path of an oncoming train, and you can expect to witness the death of a junkie in the sad surroundings of a Scottish house party.
But above all else, Reheated Cabbage offers you a chance to catch up with old friends, whether you're eating Christmas dinner with Begbie or you're catching up with Juice Terry and Carl 'N-Sign' Ewart in Miami.
Meeting up with a middle-aged Carl and Terry is made all the more sweet by the reappearance of their former nemesis - Mr. Black from their schooldays. He's not quite the imposing figure that he used to be - in fact, by the end of his story, you'll just want to give him a hug.
Written in Welsh's typical vernacular, complete with his idiosyncratic sense of spelling and grammar, Reheated Cabbage captures the essence of Welsh's early writing in a fantastic collection of short stories which cover everything from pills and pals to aliens addicted to Embassy cigarettes who've learned the niceties of human culture from a Scottish geezer who's hiding out from the police on-board their ship.
There's death too, of course - the collection starts with the story of a man who's so keen to catch the Hibs v.s. Hearts game that he leads his wife into the path of an oncoming train, and you can expect to witness the death of a junkie in the sad surroundings of a Scottish house party.
But above all else, Reheated Cabbage offers you a chance to catch up with old friends, whether you're eating Christmas dinner with Begbie or you're catching up with Juice Terry and Carl 'N-Sign' Ewart in Miami.
Meeting up with a middle-aged Carl and Terry is made all the more sweet by the reappearance of their former nemesis - Mr. Black from their schooldays. He's not quite the imposing figure that he used to be - in fact, by the end of his story, you'll just want to give him a hug.
March 22, 2017
This book was great! I've become a huge fan of Welsh and I really enjoyed these new/old stories involving various characters in his universe. The novella at the end, I am Miami, is like a sequel to both Porno and Glue. Juice Terry is one of Welsh's best characters and I found this new adventure of his to be very entertaining!
June 18, 2025
3,75 stelute 😊
8 povestiri diverse, cu personaje foarte colorate. Scenele dure sunt uneori diluate cu sarcasm si umor, dar raman incomode.
8 povestiri diverse, cu personaje foarte colorate. Scenele dure sunt uneori diluate cu sarcasm si umor, dar raman incomode.
May 10, 2010
I really like this writer a lot. He has the right mixture of out and out grossness and also is deceptively deep in his subject matter/plots. I will go out of my way to read what he writes in the future.
February 22, 2011
A reeking heap of a treasure.
May 9, 2015
I am a committed Irvine Welsh fan. I think what he does with the Scottish dialect is incredibly creative. I have never read another author who I could so clearly hear while I am reading. It is a pretty fun experience. Plus, he is very funny, in an incredibly dark way. The other thing he does which I really like is he uses the same characters in a lot of his stories. They are all set in the same place, among the same group of friends. So the stories in this collection have some of the guys from "Trainspotting," including a great story about Begbie coming to his mother's for Christmas dinner. Terry Lawson is also in it, and he was also tangentially in "Trainspotting" and much more significantly in "Glue." It's a complete world, and a pretty fascinating, if horrifying one. The stories here are kind of hit-and-miss, some are much better than others, but it's always worth the trip.
January 19, 2019
Almost everything in here has been published before in places like “Children of Albion Rovers” and various magazines, extinct or otherwise. This isn’t his strongest collection of stories, I personally think it contains one of his weakest ones in “The Rosewell Incident”, which felt overdone to me. But Welsh still has plenty of great moments in here.
There are appearances from some familiar faces too, like Carl Ewart, Terry “Juice” Lawson, and Begbie with some chaotically satisfying results. Like everything he has published to date, I would recommend this, but many may find that this lacks the consistency and gripping plot structures that many of his better known works thrive on.
January 28, 2019
ridiculous and super fun. I read the whole thing on a plane trip from Durham to San Diego (layover, Kansas City). I didn't even realize the christmas dinner story was about begbie, but of COURSE it was. i think i am miami was my favorite. the whole collection starts off with a real bang with the fault on the line, which is so over the top with the completely heinous, unbelievable husband and father. Also I realized that I missed deciphering the way Irvine Welsh sounds out all the words so you can really hear the characters.
July 25, 2011
"Reheated Cabbage" collects a handful of short stories that Welsh has published elsewhere over the past few years, and like any such anthology there is variation in the quality and cohesion of the book as a whole. There are a couple of throwaway stories and a really silly (yet still kind of amusing) story involving aliens. But overall this is definitely a collection to read because the last three stories are really quite excellent. Especially the final story, "I am Miami," which might be one of the best things Welsh has ever written.
Welsh returns to some of his characters from his previous novels, which is always welcome. So we get a brief return to the twisted mind of Begbie in one story. And a return of Ewart and Juice Terry in another. The final 3 stories really are wonderful and perfectly Welshian. The first involves a disaster that occurs at a party that is very reminiscent of the stories in "Trainspotting." The tale is disturbing, morbidly humorous, and a typical Welsh story of drugs and violence. Another is a very funny comic battle between two rivals for the attentions of a woman.
And finally the last story, which takes the point of view of Black, a minor character from "Glue," and fleshes him out in a heartbreaking, comical, touching, and twisted tale of an encounter with his former students. Ewart and Terry are such vivid characters it is also nice to revisit them. This really is a superb story and one of the most human and genuine tales (but still with the drugs, sex, and silliness one expects from Welsh) that he has ever written. The book is worth it for this story alone.
A good read.
Welsh returns to some of his characters from his previous novels, which is always welcome. So we get a brief return to the twisted mind of Begbie in one story. And a return of Ewart and Juice Terry in another. The final 3 stories really are wonderful and perfectly Welshian. The first involves a disaster that occurs at a party that is very reminiscent of the stories in "Trainspotting." The tale is disturbing, morbidly humorous, and a typical Welsh story of drugs and violence. Another is a very funny comic battle between two rivals for the attentions of a woman.
And finally the last story, which takes the point of view of Black, a minor character from "Glue," and fleshes him out in a heartbreaking, comical, touching, and twisted tale of an encounter with his former students. Ewart and Terry are such vivid characters it is also nice to revisit them. This really is a superb story and one of the most human and genuine tales (but still with the drugs, sex, and silliness one expects from Welsh) that he has ever written. The book is worth it for this story alone.
A good read.
November 10, 2015
Extremely entertaining collection. Like many others, I was a Welsh obsessive as a mid-90s teenager: many of the pieces collected here are welcome reminders of the thrill I experienced first reading him. Only one, 'The Rosewell Incident,' is a misstep: hated it back in '96ish, when I first read it, and it hasn't improved with age. But the rest were gross, vulgar, energetic. A delight.
March 22, 2018
26/100 (2018 Reading Challenge)
I am a sucker for my favourite authors & plus even attempted unbiased interviews have bias creeping through. This was a reread, the highlights are definitely the Begbie story & the Juice Terry one. I tend to lean towards the returning characters. Yet the rest are still enjoyable classic IW. If you’re a big fan you can’t go wrong here.
I am a sucker for my favourite authors & plus even attempted unbiased interviews have bias creeping through. This was a reread, the highlights are definitely the Begbie story & the Juice Terry one. I tend to lean towards the returning characters. Yet the rest are still enjoyable classic IW. If you’re a big fan you can’t go wrong here.
June 20, 2019
It sometimes happens that story collections turn out to be a bit lumpy in the sense that the pieces not always complement each other smoothly. This is one of those. However, each story on its own is great, especially the first – what a masterpiece! I have never laughed so much about such a tragic event. It’s all in how you tell it…
June 8, 2019
Excellent collection of short stories. Of course, I Am Miami was my favorite.
May 5, 2012
I didn't like Trainspotting. It was ok, I just didn't get into it. At the time, not knowing that it was based on a book, I thought it would have been better as a book, that prose would have been a better medium in which to really flesh out the characters and capture all the nuances of the situations.
Well this book, Reheated Cabbage, is exactly what I thought Trainspotting had the potential to be. It is witty, tragic, nuanced, depraved, depressing, insightful, and brilliant. The characters, thrown into mostly unexceptional circumstances, are so well drawn out that the reader feels he knows each one personally, knows each character's entire life story before even picking up the book. And to say the stories' circumstances are unexceptional, is not to say they are boring or uninteresting. In fact it's the exact opposite. The stories are mostly based around fairly ordinary situations with just enough of wist to make them different from the everyday. And Welsh writes them in such a way as to make them extraordinary.
Irvine Welsh is a true master of his craft and RC is a perfect example of his brilliance. The stories in RC are, in many ways, reminiscent of those of Raymond Carver and Ernest Hemingway. Indeed, one can almost envision Welsh as Carver or Hemingway reincarnated as a modern day, working class Scotsman.
The only reason it rates 4.5 out of 5 stars is that the final story, the novella I Am Miami, is something of a let down. It is brilliant in its own right and quite probably worthy of 5 stars alone, but having already torn through the previous shorter, more rapidly-paced stories, stories thick with Scottish brogue and filthy with the stench of realism, I Am Miami is slow and more detached, more proper in a way. It's a departure that's unexpected and can make the gears grind to a halt. Had the stories been rearranged, with I Am Miami among the first few, and perhaps with the stories with the heaviest brogue toward the end, it would almost certainly rate the full 5 stars.
Well this book, Reheated Cabbage, is exactly what I thought Trainspotting had the potential to be. It is witty, tragic, nuanced, depraved, depressing, insightful, and brilliant. The characters, thrown into mostly unexceptional circumstances, are so well drawn out that the reader feels he knows each one personally, knows each character's entire life story before even picking up the book. And to say the stories' circumstances are unexceptional, is not to say they are boring or uninteresting. In fact it's the exact opposite. The stories are mostly based around fairly ordinary situations with just enough of wist to make them different from the everyday. And Welsh writes them in such a way as to make them extraordinary.
Irvine Welsh is a true master of his craft and RC is a perfect example of his brilliance. The stories in RC are, in many ways, reminiscent of those of Raymond Carver and Ernest Hemingway. Indeed, one can almost envision Welsh as Carver or Hemingway reincarnated as a modern day, working class Scotsman.
The only reason it rates 4.5 out of 5 stars is that the final story, the novella I Am Miami, is something of a let down. It is brilliant in its own right and quite probably worthy of 5 stars alone, but having already torn through the previous shorter, more rapidly-paced stories, stories thick with Scottish brogue and filthy with the stench of realism, I Am Miami is slow and more detached, more proper in a way. It's a departure that's unexpected and can make the gears grind to a halt. Had the stories been rearranged, with I Am Miami among the first few, and perhaps with the stories with the heaviest brogue toward the end, it would almost certainly rate the full 5 stars.
May 27, 2017
How do people who are not Scottish or brought up in Scotland manage without a glossary? Some of the truncated rhyming slang would be impossible to guess (eg the 'hampden' is hampden roar (scotland's national football stadium) and therefore means 'score'. zorba - zorba the greek- 'seek' - how some say the word 'sick' - how someone would figure that out i cannot imagine.
God i feel guilty whenever i laugh at something the psychos within say or do! But you know the hampden with welch, seek bastard that he is!
God i feel guilty whenever i laugh at something the psychos within say or do! But you know the hampden with welch, seek bastard that he is!
October 12, 2020
I love Welsh and his short stories are no exception. His characters really make me laugh out loud. There isn't many authors who can amuse me like that. None of the stories here are boring, the return of Begbie and Christmas Dinner around his mother's place was a particular highlight. Crude, rude, smutty and loathsome. All of Welsh's traits are here and it's always good to spend time with his foul creations.
June 9, 2023
3*1/2. Fără linie.
August 2, 2020
I don’t have much to say about this, other than I really enjoyed these eight short stories. I forgot how great Welsh was at coming up with these slice-of-life vignettes made up of intoxicated, alcoholic, violent and life-questioning characters.
My two favourite stories were Elspeth’s Boyfriend and The State of the Party. The former is a Christmas story. The latter is like Weekend at Bernie’s, but set (of course) on a night out in Edinburgh.
My two favourite stories were Elspeth’s Boyfriend and The State of the Party. The former is a Christmas story. The latter is like Weekend at Bernie’s, but set (of course) on a night out in Edinburgh.
November 18, 2010
Il surrealismo borgataro di Irvine Welsh -riproposto questa volta in una manciata di racconti di varia origine, forma e natura- appare ormai solo un tri(s)to stereotipo. Innocuo come un bicchierino di rosolio o una canzoncina dei Radiohead. Pronto, il Welsh, per l'edizione inglese dell'isola dei famosi, a dire "vaffanculo" davanti alla telecamera.
June 24, 2022
Second story Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It) was fucking hilarious, with the following story Elspeth's Boyfriend, featuring none other than Francis Begbie - you would not want to piss him off at Christmas, being my fave. The rest were OK. Having now tasted his short fiction I'll return to the Renton novels the next time I read Welsh.
February 24, 2025
A good collection of short stories, individual rankings:
- A Fault on the Line - 4/5
- Catholic Guilt - 3/5
- Elspeth’s Boyfriend - 3/5
- Kissing and Making Up - 2/5
- The Rosewell Incident - 5/5
- The State of the Party - 3/5
- Victor Spoils - 4/5
- I Am Miami - 5/5
Love a story with Juice Terry so impossible not to enjoy I Am Miami, and The Rosewell Incident has to be the funniest short that Welsh has ever written.
- A Fault on the Line - 4/5
- Catholic Guilt - 3/5
- Elspeth’s Boyfriend - 3/5
- Kissing and Making Up - 2/5
- The Rosewell Incident - 5/5
- The State of the Party - 3/5
- Victor Spoils - 4/5
- I Am Miami - 5/5
Love a story with Juice Terry so impossible not to enjoy I Am Miami, and The Rosewell Incident has to be the funniest short that Welsh has ever written.
July 31, 2025
Your favorite soccer hooligans and sometime dope fiends emerge from the ashes of Trainspotting to organize raves, make John Waters-esque gonzo porn, and eventually hop over the Atlantic to reappear in the unlikely environs of Miami, FLA, All Day. You can bank on some of Welsh's most exquisite linguistic gymnastics when he transcribes American dialogue into Scots spelling. Absolutely hilarious.
In his latest collection, Reheated Cabbage, Welsh serves up the goods within the first few pages. This brutal yet fun-loving literary romp delivers ample helpings of alien abductions, amputations, bar swedgin', and football rivalry. Without giving too much away, in one story the protagonist, assisted by an angel, views his life from its margins, a la "It's a Wonderful Life":
In his latest collection, Reheated Cabbage, Welsh serves up the goods within the first few pages. This brutal yet fun-loving literary romp delivers ample helpings of alien abductions, amputations, bar swedgin', and football rivalry. Without giving too much away, in one story the protagonist, assisted by an angel, views his life from its margins, a la "It's a Wonderful Life":
"Well, Joe, the truth is that you're not a bad guy, but you have been a bit misogynistic and homophobic. So your punishment is to make you walk the Earth as a homosexual ghost buggering your old mates and acquaintances."
March 7, 2016
E' la prima volta che leggo Welsh, e per puro caso mi sono imbattuta non nel leggendario Trainspotting, ma in questa raccolta di racconti. E dico la verità, i primi racconti mi hanno lasciata delusa, non ho trovato quello che mi aspettavo. Personaggi femminili completamente privi di spessore, di carattere, totalmente anonimi, pagine e pagine dominate dalla violenza maschile. Ora, non che questo implichi necessariamente una brutta lettura, però dopo 100 pagine in cui la storia è sempre la stessa, anche se sostanzialmente cambiano i nomi, l'interesse inizia a calare. Per fortuna, i l meglio si nasconde nella seconda metà dei racconti: "L'incidente di Rosewell" e, soprattutto, "Amo Miami", sono davvero spettacolari. Non mi viene in mente un altro aggettivo per descriverli, sono tra i migliori racconti che abbia mai letto, e a conti fatti, è valsa la pena leggere Tutta colpa dell'acido. Approfondirò sicuramente.
March 29, 2019
I know his work and I’ve seen him speak, so I’m not sure why I never picked up an Irvine Welsh book — not until now. ‘Reheated Cabbage’ seems like a good place to start. And you know what? I fuckin loved it! Stories that twist in bizarre ways complete with booze, drugs, shags, ‘90s club music, Scottish speak, and the ‘c’ word like in every other sentence. Every story here is a winner, and I laughed my arse off.
My faves: ‘A Fault on the Line,’ ‘The Rosewell Incident,’ ‘The State of the Party,’ and ‘I Am Miami.’ That last one is a surprisingly reflective and downright touching sort of take on ‘A Christmas Carol,’ only the cathartic event isn’t a holy day but a rave.
My faves: ‘A Fault on the Line,’ ‘The Rosewell Incident,’ ‘The State of the Party,’ and ‘I Am Miami.’ That last one is a surprisingly reflective and downright touching sort of take on ‘A Christmas Carol,’ only the cathartic event isn’t a holy day but a rave.
October 1, 2012
Raccolta di racconti consigliabile agli appassionati di Welsh, anche se alcune parti sono meno buone e riuscite del solito.
La cosa curiosa è che quella che è a mio parere la storia più riuscita "L'incidente di Rosewell" è piena di strepitose trovate di "fantascienza acida" che contrastano col realismo crudo che è caratteristica, solitamente, dell'autore.
Non mancano i dialoghi comunque sempre belli e momenti assurdi, grotteschi ma esilaranti.
La cosa curiosa è che quella che è a mio parere la storia più riuscita "L'incidente di Rosewell" è piena di strepitose trovate di "fantascienza acida" che contrastano col realismo crudo che è caratteristica, solitamente, dell'autore.
Non mancano i dialoghi comunque sempre belli e momenti assurdi, grotteschi ma esilaranti.
May 12, 2022
I remember back in the 90’s thematic short story anthologies were quite popular and somehow Irvine Welsh’s name always cropped up. Since I was a fan, I tried to collect these but I only managed two. One was Children of the Albion Rovers, which I got for free and back then Canongate had this excellent ‘buy one, get a surprise book for free’ offer and the other was Disco Biscuits, which I discovered at the university bookshop and it was going for LM 5.00 (about 11 EUR). I knew there were others but to seek them out in those early internet days was a problem, so I hoped that one day there would be a odds and sods collection.
That collection is Reheated Cabbage; this anthology brings together all of Welsh’s short stories for other anthologies. Plus there’s a new novella. Out of these 8 stories 3 revisit the Trainspotting world and the remaining ones feature the usual Welsh trademarks: drugs, sex and raves.
All 3 Trainspotting stories are excellent; Elspeth’s Boyfriend has Begbie visiting his family for a Christmas meal and it descends into a maelstrom of violence. It’s also the funniest story of the lot. Irvine Welsh excels at creating off the cuff observations and there’s tons of that here. The other Victor Spoils, consists of minor characters Gavin and Victor fighting over a girl, who is being seen to by a horny dentist, only to realise that their friendship is stronger. The third is the new novella, I am Miami, which sees Juice Terry meeting his secondary school teacher in a Miami Nightclub, as ridiculous as it sounds, Welsh manages to create quite a credible story.
The rest are equally good: The Rosewell Incident features aliens with heavy Scottish dialects trying to take over the Earth, Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love it) is about a Homophobe getting a punishment. A Fault on the Line is probably the most brutal thing I’ve read by Welsh which manages to top the dog mutilation scene in Marabou Stork Nightmares.
The other two stories Kissing and Making Up and The State of the Party are quite weak in comparison. But 6 top notch stories are definitely an incentive for buying the book.
What’s fascinating is how Irvine Welsh progressed as a writer. The early stuff is shocking: Missing Limbs, graphic sodomy, descriptions of sex that leave no room for the imagination and those trademark nasty endings which were common in a lot of Welsh’s first five books. When reading these pieces, I remembered why I liked Welsh so much as he was crass but funny at the same time. Ditto to the Trainspotting stories. It’s always good to read about Begbie and in Elspeth’s Boyfriend he’s completely unleashed.
The actual change is noticeable in I am Miami. It’s quite a sweet story. It’s got a positive message, a happy ending, has quite a political theme and maintains the Scots dialect and hijinks that are part of Welsh’s repertoire – this mellowing can be seen in the stronger later novels such as The Sex Lives of the Siamese Twins and Dead Men’s Trousers
Although this definitely more for the fans, I do think that a Welsh newbie could try this out – maybe after reading Trainspotting and Glue. It does cover all aspects of his writing and delves into the themes of his work in the process.
That collection is Reheated Cabbage; this anthology brings together all of Welsh’s short stories for other anthologies. Plus there’s a new novella. Out of these 8 stories 3 revisit the Trainspotting world and the remaining ones feature the usual Welsh trademarks: drugs, sex and raves.
All 3 Trainspotting stories are excellent; Elspeth’s Boyfriend has Begbie visiting his family for a Christmas meal and it descends into a maelstrom of violence. It’s also the funniest story of the lot. Irvine Welsh excels at creating off the cuff observations and there’s tons of that here. The other Victor Spoils, consists of minor characters Gavin and Victor fighting over a girl, who is being seen to by a horny dentist, only to realise that their friendship is stronger. The third is the new novella, I am Miami, which sees Juice Terry meeting his secondary school teacher in a Miami Nightclub, as ridiculous as it sounds, Welsh manages to create quite a credible story.
The rest are equally good: The Rosewell Incident features aliens with heavy Scottish dialects trying to take over the Earth, Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love it) is about a Homophobe getting a punishment. A Fault on the Line is probably the most brutal thing I’ve read by Welsh which manages to top the dog mutilation scene in Marabou Stork Nightmares.
The other two stories Kissing and Making Up and The State of the Party are quite weak in comparison. But 6 top notch stories are definitely an incentive for buying the book.
What’s fascinating is how Irvine Welsh progressed as a writer. The early stuff is shocking: Missing Limbs, graphic sodomy, descriptions of sex that leave no room for the imagination and those trademark nasty endings which were common in a lot of Welsh’s first five books. When reading these pieces, I remembered why I liked Welsh so much as he was crass but funny at the same time. Ditto to the Trainspotting stories. It’s always good to read about Begbie and in Elspeth’s Boyfriend he’s completely unleashed.
The actual change is noticeable in I am Miami. It’s quite a sweet story. It’s got a positive message, a happy ending, has quite a political theme and maintains the Scots dialect and hijinks that are part of Welsh’s repertoire – this mellowing can be seen in the stronger later novels such as The Sex Lives of the Siamese Twins and Dead Men’s Trousers
Although this definitely more for the fans, I do think that a Welsh newbie could try this out – maybe after reading Trainspotting and Glue. It does cover all aspects of his writing and delves into the themes of his work in the process.
December 20, 2020
The most recent short story collection from Irvine Welsh is a return to form after the middle of the road "If You Liked School You'll Love Work". Here Welsh doesn't string a story along to hit a page count. He brings you into a world, presents an interesting scenario and then ends it. What else do you need? Alas these are older stories which were out of print so this a return to form for his short story writing only in terms of publication date.
Below are my thoughts on each story individually.
A Fault on the Line: After an innocuous opening this quickly turns into one of the most grotesque scenarios Welsh has ever written. The father in his grim condemnation of his own children when he caused the incident. Shocking, a stark blast to open this compared to the long winded stories in the previous collection.
Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It): A disturbing yarn in which a homophobic man is served an ironic punishment from St. Peter. Funny and with echoes of The Acid House in its use of a divine punishment.
Elspeth's Boyfriend: A welcome inclusion of Franco Begby from Trainspotting and Porno. Here he is celebrating Christmas with his family in his typical controlling fashion. The titular boyfriend gets on Begbys tits through his good manners and friendly demeanour, antithetical to Begby's manner. A funny little scenario given Begby is the typical hardman who in reality is just an elderly child who never matured in any way other than physically. Great ending which is just typical Begby.
Kissing and Making Up: The shortest story in this collection at 5 pages. A man's obsession with a strippers c section scar leads to his comeuppance. Strange insight into one man's obsession.
The Rosewell Incident: Welsh does sci fi as aliens take Rosewell (geddit?). This is genuinely fascinating in it's construction. We get a cast of typical Welsh ruffians and hedonists but this is shaken up with the inclusion of an advanced race of psychic aliens named the Cyrastorians. A character mentions early into the story she believes she was impregnated by an alien. A few pages later we have actual aliens in a spaceship. That sounds ridiculous writing it here but he pulls it off and it feels real within the text in a way no other Welsh story has attempted. We have 3 main viewpoints. Jimmy and Semo, Shelley dealing with a possible alien pregnancy and a Cyrastorian youth named Tazak and his human companion Mikey Devlin. Hilariously due to Tazak hanging out with Mikey he speaks with a pronounced Scottish accent. To quote him "See, Earth cunt, youse think thit yir a hard crew but yir jist a bunch ay fuckin shitein cunts in the whole intergalactic scheme ay things." Bonkers and hilarious throughout. I hope I don't spoil the ending with these two words: intergalactic rave. One of the best he's ever written.
The State of the Party: Crooky and Calum drop acid in a pub and set off towards a party. The description of them rambling to the party and being there all while on acid is hilarious and fascinating. As someone who doesn't partake in psychedelics it sounds like a fun time, albeit simultaneously terrifying. They bring a junkie with them to the gaffer. His name is Boaby and it really is his story despite the fact he's wrecked on heroin. It does a good job capturing the vibe of a party, but to be fair I've never been at a gaffer that went as sour as this one did in as short a timespan. The night marches on with increasingly shambolic results. I didn't know whether to laugh or feel bad for the characters but I enjoyed their downward spiral. After all the insane goings on there is genuinely a poignant ending. One of the few short stories that really leaves you yearning to know more about the characters and what will happen next.
Victor Spoils: In the penultimate story in this collection Gavin and Sarah awake after a night out and have sex in the morning after the drugs have worn off. Here Welsh shows how even in coitus people are in 2 entirely seperate worlds of their own, with separate interpretations of events and how the other person feels. The universe is truly within the skull as Orwell put it. Sarah has an awful toothache (which was taking any pleasure for her out of the previous actions) so they set off for the dentist despite it being a Sunday. There's a nice nod to the characters from Trainspotting but really what Welsh is trying to do here is showing how both men and women can't really read how the other feels. Even when they've had sex that very morning, the most intimate way two people can be with eachother and yet they don't have a clue how the other feels. On the way to the dentist the pair bump into Sarah's ex and things go pear shaped from there. Welsh at his most psychosexual, great stuff.
I Am Miami: The final and longest story in the collection by proxy focuses on Welsh alumni "Juice" Terry Lawson(Glue, Porno, A Decent Ride) and Carl "The Milky Bar Kid/DJ NSIGN" Ewart (Glue). Full disclosure I haven't read Glue which is the work both of these characters first appeared in. I have read Porno though and Juice was one of the best aspects of that (overly long but really well written) book.
As viewpoint characters we have Albert Black a Scot in Miami struggling with his faith after his wife died of cancer, Helena Hulme a woman stuck on a plane into Miami breathing in the smell of the shitting toddler in front of her. She is Carl's fiancé as Juice mentions later on. Black is an interesting character. He's deeply religious and although the author isn't, he writes Black in way that doesn't feel like he's looking down on him in any way. Black is laden with grief from his wife's death and his internal appeal to God is heart breaking to read. It is revealed that Black during his days teaching/being headmaster in Scotland he taught Carl Ewart before he was a successful musician. Carl gave a scathing answer to a question in an interview in response to a question about school: "-The only decent teachers I had were English and Art. It was the only time I was treated like a human being. Other than that school was a concentration camp run by weak, stupid wankers with no morality. No fucking spine". Black cuts that article out of the magazine. He keeps it in his wallet. A talisman of wasted years trying to improve children who despite all your efforts, still despised you. On reading another magazine due to his blossoming obsession with Ewart, Black realises Carl is in Miami. He sets out to meet him and reckon with his own past. The sequence where Black decides to do this is brilliantly written. Welsh is so damn good at writing people's thought processes. Juice and Carl barge into the story and we're off to the races from there. I wish I had read Glue before this, same time I'm not sad I read something this well written to close out this collection. Again one of his best in which two generations manage to reconcile and make sense of eachother.
Over all. Probably his most well rounded and well written collection. This and The Acid House are collections I would reccomend to anyone who enjoys fiction and authors who do interesting and unique things with the written word.
Below are my thoughts on each story individually.
A Fault on the Line: After an innocuous opening this quickly turns into one of the most grotesque scenarios Welsh has ever written. The father in his grim condemnation of his own children when he caused the incident. Shocking, a stark blast to open this compared to the long winded stories in the previous collection.
Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It): A disturbing yarn in which a homophobic man is served an ironic punishment from St. Peter. Funny and with echoes of The Acid House in its use of a divine punishment.
Elspeth's Boyfriend: A welcome inclusion of Franco Begby from Trainspotting and Porno. Here he is celebrating Christmas with his family in his typical controlling fashion. The titular boyfriend gets on Begbys tits through his good manners and friendly demeanour, antithetical to Begby's manner. A funny little scenario given Begby is the typical hardman who in reality is just an elderly child who never matured in any way other than physically. Great ending which is just typical Begby.
Kissing and Making Up: The shortest story in this collection at 5 pages. A man's obsession with a strippers c section scar leads to his comeuppance. Strange insight into one man's obsession.
The Rosewell Incident: Welsh does sci fi as aliens take Rosewell (geddit?). This is genuinely fascinating in it's construction. We get a cast of typical Welsh ruffians and hedonists but this is shaken up with the inclusion of an advanced race of psychic aliens named the Cyrastorians. A character mentions early into the story she believes she was impregnated by an alien. A few pages later we have actual aliens in a spaceship. That sounds ridiculous writing it here but he pulls it off and it feels real within the text in a way no other Welsh story has attempted. We have 3 main viewpoints. Jimmy and Semo, Shelley dealing with a possible alien pregnancy and a Cyrastorian youth named Tazak and his human companion Mikey Devlin. Hilariously due to Tazak hanging out with Mikey he speaks with a pronounced Scottish accent. To quote him "See, Earth cunt, youse think thit yir a hard crew but yir jist a bunch ay fuckin shitein cunts in the whole intergalactic scheme ay things." Bonkers and hilarious throughout. I hope I don't spoil the ending with these two words: intergalactic rave. One of the best he's ever written.
The State of the Party: Crooky and Calum drop acid in a pub and set off towards a party. The description of them rambling to the party and being there all while on acid is hilarious and fascinating. As someone who doesn't partake in psychedelics it sounds like a fun time, albeit simultaneously terrifying. They bring a junkie with them to the gaffer. His name is Boaby and it really is his story despite the fact he's wrecked on heroin. It does a good job capturing the vibe of a party, but to be fair I've never been at a gaffer that went as sour as this one did in as short a timespan. The night marches on with increasingly shambolic results. I didn't know whether to laugh or feel bad for the characters but I enjoyed their downward spiral. After all the insane goings on there is genuinely a poignant ending. One of the few short stories that really leaves you yearning to know more about the characters and what will happen next.
Victor Spoils: In the penultimate story in this collection Gavin and Sarah awake after a night out and have sex in the morning after the drugs have worn off. Here Welsh shows how even in coitus people are in 2 entirely seperate worlds of their own, with separate interpretations of events and how the other person feels. The universe is truly within the skull as Orwell put it. Sarah has an awful toothache (which was taking any pleasure for her out of the previous actions) so they set off for the dentist despite it being a Sunday. There's a nice nod to the characters from Trainspotting but really what Welsh is trying to do here is showing how both men and women can't really read how the other feels. Even when they've had sex that very morning, the most intimate way two people can be with eachother and yet they don't have a clue how the other feels. On the way to the dentist the pair bump into Sarah's ex and things go pear shaped from there. Welsh at his most psychosexual, great stuff.
I Am Miami: The final and longest story in the collection by proxy focuses on Welsh alumni "Juice" Terry Lawson(Glue, Porno, A Decent Ride) and Carl "The Milky Bar Kid/DJ NSIGN" Ewart (Glue). Full disclosure I haven't read Glue which is the work both of these characters first appeared in. I have read Porno though and Juice was one of the best aspects of that (overly long but really well written) book.
As viewpoint characters we have Albert Black a Scot in Miami struggling with his faith after his wife died of cancer, Helena Hulme a woman stuck on a plane into Miami breathing in the smell of the shitting toddler in front of her. She is Carl's fiancé as Juice mentions later on. Black is an interesting character. He's deeply religious and although the author isn't, he writes Black in way that doesn't feel like he's looking down on him in any way. Black is laden with grief from his wife's death and his internal appeal to God is heart breaking to read. It is revealed that Black during his days teaching/being headmaster in Scotland he taught Carl Ewart before he was a successful musician. Carl gave a scathing answer to a question in an interview in response to a question about school: "-The only decent teachers I had were English and Art. It was the only time I was treated like a human being. Other than that school was a concentration camp run by weak, stupid wankers with no morality. No fucking spine". Black cuts that article out of the magazine. He keeps it in his wallet. A talisman of wasted years trying to improve children who despite all your efforts, still despised you. On reading another magazine due to his blossoming obsession with Ewart, Black realises Carl is in Miami. He sets out to meet him and reckon with his own past. The sequence where Black decides to do this is brilliantly written. Welsh is so damn good at writing people's thought processes. Juice and Carl barge into the story and we're off to the races from there. I wish I had read Glue before this, same time I'm not sad I read something this well written to close out this collection. Again one of his best in which two generations manage to reconcile and make sense of eachother.
Over all. Probably his most well rounded and well written collection. This and The Acid House are collections I would reccomend to anyone who enjoys fiction and authors who do interesting and unique things with the written word.
July 17, 2020
Here I am again, emerging from the dark pit of human iniquity and psychological torment which I willingly lower myself into when reading a Welsh novel. I’ve just read of the most insane, immoral, and mind-bending situations, I’ve come away muddled and mishandled, and yet I always fucking love it.
We have a collection of some of Welsh’s earlier short stories, each of them differing in tone, setting, and message, but all seeming somehow to be coated in the grime of the human condition. We see some old pals, including Begbie and Juice Terry, and meet some new absolutely mad folk who I’d love to see again.
Welsh always seems an expert in digging into the alpha-male psyche and showing us how his scoundrel’s brains work, whilst ripping the pish out them at the same time. Talking your wrecked wife into taking a shortcut over the train tracks so you won’t miss the Hibs game. Starting a scrap in the dentist’s office because you can’t believe this other guy shagged your ex last night. Cracking your sister’s new boyfriend on Christmas day because he hit you on the back to stop you from choking. It’s all fucking hilarious, but there’s some deep-rooted commentary there on male pride, which is worthwhile.
This had a similar feel to If You Liked School, You’ll Love Work , where some stories are hits and some are misses, but there’s a pervading sense of Welsh being experimental, and seeing where it gets him. This does involve smacking us with aliens who love a snout, and a dentist getting a hard on when he sees the inside of a woman’s mouth, but in the name of experimentation, it’s a great laugh.
A perfect wee injection of darkness and morbidity until we can read more Welsh. Mon then.
We have a collection of some of Welsh’s earlier short stories, each of them differing in tone, setting, and message, but all seeming somehow to be coated in the grime of the human condition. We see some old pals, including Begbie and Juice Terry, and meet some new absolutely mad folk who I’d love to see again.
Welsh always seems an expert in digging into the alpha-male psyche and showing us how his scoundrel’s brains work, whilst ripping the pish out them at the same time. Talking your wrecked wife into taking a shortcut over the train tracks so you won’t miss the Hibs game. Starting a scrap in the dentist’s office because you can’t believe this other guy shagged your ex last night. Cracking your sister’s new boyfriend on Christmas day because he hit you on the back to stop you from choking. It’s all fucking hilarious, but there’s some deep-rooted commentary there on male pride, which is worthwhile.
This had a similar feel to If You Liked School, You’ll Love Work , where some stories are hits and some are misses, but there’s a pervading sense of Welsh being experimental, and seeing where it gets him. This does involve smacking us with aliens who love a snout, and a dentist getting a hard on when he sees the inside of a woman’s mouth, but in the name of experimentation, it’s a great laugh.
A perfect wee injection of darkness and morbidity until we can read more Welsh. Mon then.
August 17, 2025
Definitivamente no es mi tipo de libro: el lenguaje sucio y sexual, la falta de consistencia en la trama con historias basadas en personajes violentos que solo quieren drogas, matar y tener sexo violento no fue de mi agrado. Esperaba un poco más de profundidad (solo me lo dio la última historia del señor Black), pero la mayoría de ellas fueron vacías, sin sustento y completamente ilógicas (como la de los ovnis).
No, no volvería a leer nada del autor, no fue un lectura agradable (al punto de que me provocó bloqueo lector).
No, no volvería a leer nada del autor, no fue un lectura agradable (al punto de que me provocó bloqueo lector).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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