Greyhound for Breakfast by James Kelman

Greyhound for Breakfast by James Kelman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

James Kelman is an angry man. You’d expect that to be a natural trait of a Glaswegian, but he’s taken 47 accounts of living on the line and has gathered them into one compilation. His characters are the lowest of the low; whether it’s a tramp begging for some change, a worker living in the stockroom or a man simply trying to balance the books till the next giro, there’s always an action that makes you want to feel apathetic towards them. Some accounts are simply a stream of conscious; most are colloquial, but all are first person perspectives. Expect smoking, vulgar language and lots of missing storylines and human depravity. But the clear point is that the situation of his characters all seem to be blamed on society’s actions which quite often portrays them as very angry indeed. If you’re looking for life-long inspiration then this is not for you; but if you’re looking for betrayal and human selfishness in a dog-eat-dog world then these short stories will do you just fine.

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