A heartbreaking novel, a book both beautiful and brutal . . . All that grief and sadness and misery has been turned into something tough, tender and beautifully sad. ? The TimesLeaves us gutted and marvelling: Life may be short, but it takes forever. ? New York TimesI think it?s the best first book I?ve read in many years. -- Karl Ove Knausgård ? GuardianRarely does a debut novel establish its world with such sure-footedness, and Stuart?s prose is lithe, lyrical and full of revelatory descriptive insights. -- Alex Preston ? ObserverAn astonishing portrait, drawn from life, of a society left to die . . . Shuggie Bain has been longlisted for the Booker Prize. In a just world, it would win. ? Daily TelegraphShuggie Bain comes from a deep understanding of the relationship between a child and a substance-abusing parent, showing a world rarely portrayed in literary fiction . . . Admirable and important. -- Sarah Moss ? GuardianThis is a dysfunctional love story . . . between a boy and his mother . . . what makes his book a worthy contender for the Booker is his portrayal of their bond, together with all its perpetual damage. ? Financial TimesDouglas Stuart?s startling Glasgow-set debut novel creates a world of poverty and suffering offset by pure, heart-filling, love . . . It?s a novel that deserves, and will surely often get, a second reading. -- Allan Massie ? ScotsmanShuggie Bain is a novel that aims for the heart and finds it. -- John Self ? The TimesTender and unsentimental . . . and the Billy Elliot-ish character of Shuggie . . . leaps off the page. ? Daily MailBeautiful and bleak but with enough warmth and optimism to carry the reader through. -- Graham Norton (via Twitter)A boy's heartbreaking love for his mother . . . as intense and excruciating to read as any novel I have ever held in my hand . . . The book?s evocative power arises out of the author?s talent for conjuring a place, a time, and the texture of emotion . . . brilliantly written. ? NewsdayAn outstanding book . . . Magnificently done . . . Wonderful. -- Lee Child ? Sunday PostA debut novel that reads like a masterpiece, Shuggie Bain gives voice to the kind of helpless, hopeless love that children can feel toward broken parents. ? Washington PostThis heartfelt and harrowing debut novel ? which has been compared to the work of Édouard Louis, Frank McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, and which Kirkus has already called ?a masterpiece? . . . is rightly being heralded for its visceral, emotionally nuanced portrayal of working class Scottish life and its blazingly intimate exploration of a mother-son relationship. ? LitHubA formidable story, lyrically told, about intimacy, family, and love. -- 12 Best Books of 2020 So Far ? ELLE (US)The way Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting carved a permanent place in our heads and hearts for the junkies of late-1980s Edinburgh, the language, imagery, and story of fashion designer Stuart's debut novel apotheosizes the life of the Bain family of Glasgow? Readers may get through the whole novel without breaking down?then read the first sentence of the acknowledgements and lose it. The emotional truth embodied here will crack you open. You will never forget Shuggie Bain. Scene by scene, this book is a masterpiece. -- Kirkus Reviews starred reviewA rare and haunting ode to 1980s Glasgow and its struggling communities, Shuggie Bain tells the story of a collapsing family that is lashed together by love alone. Douglas Stuart writes with startling, searing intimacy. I fell hard for these characters; when they have nothing left, they cling maddeningly?irresistibly?to humor, pride and hope ? Chia-Chia LinShuggie Bain is an intimate and frighteningly acute exploration of a mother-son relationship and a masterful portrait of alcoholism in Scottish working class life, rendered with old-school lyrical realism . . . I kept being reminded of Joyce's Dubliners. -- Sandra Newman, author of The HeavensThere?s no way to fake the life experience that forms the bedrock of Douglas Stuart?s wonderful Shuggie Bain. No way to fake the talent either. Shuggie will knock you sideways ? Richard RussoA dark shining work. Raw, formidable, bursting with tenderness and frailty. The effect is remarkable, it will make you cry. -- Karl Geary, author of Montpelier ParadeEvery now and then a novel comes along that feels necessary and inevitable. I?ll never forget Shuggie and Agnes or the incredibly detailed Glasgow they inhabit. This is the rare contemporary novel that reads like an instant classic. I?ll be thinking and talking about Shuggie Bain - and teaching it - for quite some time. -- Garrard Conley, New York Times-bestselling author of Boy ErasedGlasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s is the backdrop for this story of the fraught bond between a young boy and his mother. -- ?The 22 Best Books to Read This Winter? ? Vogue (US)Compulsively readable? As [the novel] beautifully and shockingly illustrates how Shuggie ends up alone, this novel offers a testament to the indomitable human spirit. Very highly recommended -- Library Journal starred review Biografía del autor Douglas Stuart was born and raised in Glasgow. After graduating from the Royal College of Art, he moved to New York, where he began a career in fashion design. Shuggie Bain, his first novel, won the Booker Prize and both 'Debut of the Year' and 'Book of The Year' at the British Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the US National Book Award for Fiction, among many other awards. His short stories have appeared in the New Yorker and his essay on gender, anxiety and class was published by Lit Hub. He divides his time between New York and Glasgow. Young Mungo is his second novel.