RaveJacobinWith his exquisitely detailed debut novel, Douglas Stuart has given Glasgow something of what James Joyce gave to Dublin. Every city needs a book like Shuggie Bain, one where the powers of description are so strong you can almost smell the chip-fat and pub-smoke steaming from its pages, and hear the particular, localized slang ringing in your ears ... although it’s depicted as poverty-stricken, miserable, and dark, the book is also a love letter of sorts to Glasgow. It’s a portrait of a city ravaged by Margaret Thatcher’s government that is both unflinchingly authentic and poignantly tender ... One of the most interesting aspects of Shuggie Bain is the way it exposes the subtle gender flip that occurred as a result of mass unemployment ... Stuart touches upon this with a light but laser-sharp eye ... the women are vividly drawn creations that render the full force of Stuart’s extraordinary descriptive power ... Agnes...is the real heroine of this story, so evocative and striking that she may be one of those characters you never forget. Stuart writes about Shuggie, a lonely, loving boy struggling with his sexuality, with skill. But the depiction pales in comparison to the sheer, knock-out force of what he managed to create with Agnes ... Shuggie Bain is full of people doing and saying awful things to one another all the time, but nobody really seems truly awful. Maybe this is what makes the novel so powerful and sad—it turns over the ugly side of humanity to find the softness and the beauty underneath.
