The Acid House

By Irvine Welsh,

Book cover of The Acid House

Book description

He is called "the Scottish Celine of the 1990s" (Guardian) and "a mad, postmodern Roald Dahl" (Weekend Scotsman). Using a range of approaches from bitter realism to demented fantasy, Irvine Welsh is able to evoke the essential humanity, well hidden as it is, of his generally depraved, lazy, manipulative, and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Acid House as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

While I’ve enjoyed most of Irvine Welsh’s books, this one (a collection of short stories) is my favorite because it accurately crystallizes a particular culture, place, and time.  The stories are set in Edinburgh and its environs, where I lived in a nearby village. My familiarity with the settings made this book feel intimate, sometimes unsettlingly so. I love the way each story blends the real and the surreal. 

There are drugs and booze galore, of course, as well as brutality and revenge, but the author’s savvy wit and incisive dialogue give these tales gravitas, authenticity, and philosophical depth. I…

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Nine Stories Told Completely in Dialogue is a unique collection of narratives, each unfolding entirely through conversations between its characters. The book opens with "God on a Budget," a tale of a man's surreal nighttime visitation that offers a blend of the mundane and the mystical. In "Doctor in the…

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