Synopsis
The Trainspotting lads are back...and in worse shape than ever.
The New Yorker
In a wily "Big Chill" maneuver, Welsh brings back the cast of his iconic first novel, "Trainspotting," for a serially narrated Edinburgh reunion, but, though ten years have passed, none of these seedy characters have grown up at all. When pimping and pub proprietorship become a bore, Sick Boy and Renton turn their energies to the production of a porn film entitled "Seven Rides for Seven Brothers," in which they and their nearest and dearest play starring roles. Brawling, bonking, and Scots brogue aside, there's room for some solid satire -- of gentrification, globalization, and the hypocrisy of Britain's Labour Government. Surprisingly, the book's most convincing voice is that of its only female narrator, an ambitious Sick Girl, who takes on each man and somehow comes out a winner.