Lanark: A Life in Four Books (Canongate Classic) - Softcover

A quite extraordinary achievement, the most remarkable thing in Scottish fiction for a very long time. It has changed the landscape. -- Allan Massie * * The Scotsman * * Undoubtedly the best work of fiction written by a Scottish author for decades. * * Time Out * * Remarkable. . . Lanark is a work of loving and vivid imagination, yielding copious riches. -- William Boyd * * Times Literary Supplement * * I was absolutely knocked out by Lanark. I think it's the best in Scottish literature this century. -- Iain Banks

Lanark, a modern vision of hell, is set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, and tells the interwoven stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. A work of extraordinary imagination and wide range, its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying. Widely recognised as a modern classic, Alasdair Gray's magnum opus was first published in 1981 and immediately established him as one of Britain's leading writers. Comparisons have been made to Dante, Blake, Joyce, Orwell, Kafka, Huxley and Lewis Carroll. This timely new edition should cement his reputation as one of our greatest living writers.