A master class in the art of storytelling

Tremain is elegant, cool and teasing...she is an extremely accomplished writer, ingenious and acute, compassionate and always in control

A perfect demonstration of Rose Tremain's beguilingly original and quirky mind and her ability to set words on paper in the most spellbinding way

In this superb collection of short stories she displays a dazzling versatility... Rose Tremain's writing has a rare subtlety. And her imagination is extraordinary

Full of fun, frenzy and filth

Brilliantly ghastly

An enjoyable Welsh outing, by turns brutish and funny

His customary strengths are in place. The stories are very funny in their black, often cartoonish way. There's also a degree of zest to the storytelling

Customary wit, flair and energy

All the elements of Welsh's best work remain in tact here: the brilliant imagination, the phonetically-transcribed Scots dialect, the humour, the gritty realism

What's striking about these early stories is that the thicker Welsh was steeped in the primordial goo of his Edinburgh Scots phonetics, the better the storytelling got

As you would expect, the stories in this collection involve a certain amount of cultural tourism to the lower depths, undertaken with black humour... Welsh's relish for degradation covers up a strong sentimental streak

Welsh's transcription of Scots dialect is brilliant... Welsh also has a fabulous sense of the absurd... The overall vibe of these stories is dark and grim. And fierily, fiercely funny