<b>A heartbreaking novel, a book both beautiful and brutal</b> . . . All that grief and sadness and misery has been turned into something tough, tender and beautifully sad.
The Times
<b>Leaves us gutted and marvelling</b>: Life may be short, but it takes forever.
New York Times
I think itâs the best first book Iâve read in many years.
- Karl Ove KnausgĂĽrd, Guardian
Rarely does a debut novel establish its world with such sure-footedness, and Stuartâs prose is <b>lithe, lyrical and full of revelatory descriptive insights.</b>
- Alex Preston, Observer
An astonishing portrait, drawn from life, of a society left to die . . . <b><i>Shuggie Bain</i> has been longlisted for the Booker Prize. In a just world, it would win.</b>
Daily Telegraph
<i>Shuggie Bain </i>comes from a deep understanding of the relationship between a child and a substance-abusing parent,<b> showing a world rarely portrayed in literary fiction</b> . . . Admirable and important.
- Sarah Moss, Guardian
This is <b>a dysfunctional love story </b>. . . 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 Times
Douglas Stuartâs startling Glasgow-set debut novel creates a world of poverty and suffering offset by pure, heart-filling, love . . . <b>Itâs a novel that deserves, and will surely often get, a second reading.</b>
- Allan Massie, Scotsman
<i><b>Shuggie Bain</b></i><b> is a novel that aims for the heart and finds it.</b>
- John Self, The Times
Tender and unsentimental . . . and the Billy Elliot-ish character of Shuggie . . . leaps off the page.
Daily Mail
Beautiful and bleak but<b> with enough warmth and optimism to carry the reader through</b>.
- Graham Norton (via Twitter),
<b>A boy's heartbreaking love for his mother</b> . . . as intense and excruciating to read as any novel I have ever held in my hand . . . The bookâs evocative power arises out of the authorâs talent for conjuring a place, a time, and the texture of emotion . . . brilliantly written.
Newsday
An outstanding book . . . Magnificently done . . . Wonderful.
- Lee Child, Sunday Post
<b>A debut novel that reads like a masterpiece</b>, <i>Shuggie Bain</i> gives voice to the kind of helpless, hopeless love that children can feel toward broken parents.
Washington Post
This heartfelt and harrowing debut novel â which has been compared to the work of Ădouard Louis, Frank McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, and which<i> Kirkus </i>has already called âa masterpieceâ . . . is rightly being heralded for its<b> visceral, emotionally nuanced portrayal of working class Scottish life and its blazingly intimate exploration of a mother-son relationship</b>.
LitHub
A formidable story, lyrically told, about<b> intimacy, family, and love.</b>
- 12 Best Books of 2020 So Far, ELLE (US)
The way Irvine Welsh's <i>Trainspotting </i>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 downâthen read the first sentence of the acknowledgements and lose it. The emotional truth embodied here will crack you open. <b>You will never forget <i>Shuggie Bain</i>. Scene by scene, this book is a masterpiece.</b>
- <i>Kirkus Reviews</i> starred review,
A rare and haunting ode to 1980s Glasgow and its struggling communities, <i>Shuggie Bain</i> tells the story of a collapsing family that is lashed together by love alone. <b>Douglas Stuart writes with startling, searing intimacy.</b> I fell hard for these characters; when they have nothing left, they cling maddeninglyâirresistiblyâto humor, pride and hope
Chia-Chia Lin
<i>Shuggie Bain</i> 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 . . . <b>I kept being reminded of Joyce's </b><i><b>Dubliners</b></i><b>.</b>
- Sandra Newman, author of <i>The Heavens</i>,
Thereâs no way to fake the life experience that forms the bedrock of Douglas Stuartâs wonderful <i>Shuggie Bain</i>. <b>No way to fake the talent either. Shuggie will knock you sideways</b>
Richard Russo
A dark shining work. <b>Raw, formidable, bursting with tenderness and frailty.</b> The effect is remarkable, <b>it will make you cry.</b>
- Karl Geary, author of <i>Montpelier Parade</i>,
Every now and then a novel comes along that feels necessary and inevitable. Iâll never forget Shuggie and Agnes or the incredibly detailed Glasgow they inhabit. <b>This is the rare contemporary novel that reads like an instant classic.</b> Iâll be thinking and talking about <i>Shuggie Bain</i> - and teaching it - for quite some time.
- Garrard Conley, New York Times-bestselling author of <i>Boy Erased</i>,
Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s is the backdrop for this story of the fraught bond between a young boy and his mother.
- <b>âThe 22 Best Books to Read This Winterâ</b>, 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
- <i>Library Journal</i> starred review,