A brilliant and preposterously funny book

It has always made me laugh out loud . . . a flawless comic novel'

A seminal campus novel

A slam-dunk for H.M. Naqvi

Sharp, sleek prose, a tightly wrought structure and a slam poet's instinct carry this book to the top of the heap

A remarkably engaging novel that delights as it disturbs

Bursts with intelligence and energy and pathos. I haven't read anything like it

Naqvi's fast-paced plot, foul-mouthed erudition and pitch-perfect dialogue make for a stellar debut

Welsh performs the mysterious feat of making you think that his characters are real.

A brilliantly funny, scary, sweeping novel with all the energy of Welsh's debut, but imbued with a wider sense of political and social engagement.

It’s brilliant and even more thrilling than its predecessor.

Like Trainspotting, Skagboys thrusts along with the exuberance of its episodic stories. Welsh hasn't lost his flair for comic set pieces.

Quite simply a masterpiece…at least as assured and vibrant in its characterization as Trainspotting, Skagboys is even more on the money politically… This novel more than any other, (including its brilliant predecessor) stands as our spiritual and moral history.

It was never going to be light reading, but Welsh's vigour, wit and energy still make it compulsive.

Skagboys is a compelling tale…a seriously entertaining piece of work.

If you too loved the colloquial tangle of Trainspotting, you'll find a similar rhythm in Skagboys.

There is enough of what Welsh does well - needle-sharp dialogue, vivid characters and a certainty of place - to make Skagboys his best work in many years…an essential read.

A cracking read.

Very good.

The prose flows easily, underpinned with a wry humour that counters the harsh, modern realism

Totally awesome!

I would recommend this book in a heartbeat...young or old - it's just brilliant!

In the safe hands of none other than Mr. Steven Spielberg, this is your last chance to read the book before the movie hype drowns out the written word. A mixed up dystopian fantasy adventure novel with more nods to 80’s pop culture than even the biggest John Hughes fan will be able to handle, it’s just a whole lot of fun to read

This is one you need to read before EVERYONE knows about it!

Ultimately entertaining, enthusiastic and enjoyable. A real must-have for any collection…a beautifully constructed piece of escapism which will pull you in with such vigour that you miss your train stop.

Powerful and very timely message

This novel's great achievement is to capture the tensions and subtleties of a married life cut short… I read [it] virtually in one sitting, but that's a fairly common experience with Anne Tyler books… I didn't want it to end. Which is also a fairly common Tyler thing.

The Beginner’s Goodbye is a very funny book … every incident is at once recognizably true to life and yet somehow utterly off-kilter.

Brims with wry perceptiveness and rueful humour

Tyler's playful humour imbues this unsentimental portrait of a mismatched marriage

A cleverly observed tale of an imperfect relationship and grief

A bittersweet, utterly beguiling story of love and loss from a brilliant writer

Both compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won’t want The Beginner’s Goodbye to end

It begins with one of those sentences that impels you to read on…Tyler’s haunting tale of love and loss is intelligent, unsentimental and often wryly funny

A lovely, stylish way to write a novel about marriage

A beautifully poignant portrait of marriage, loss and grief

Exhibit[s] all the delicious readability that admirers of Tyler expect

Both compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won't want The Beginner's Goodbye to end

An emotionally satisfying book with wise and moving moments

Cline [crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box ... Cline strikes the nerves of nerd culture as expertly as Andy played that skeleton organ in The Goonies.