Alasdair Gray is known throughout the world for his writing, but he is also a highly regarded artist who not only illustrates and designs his own books, but has created many beautiful and intriguing portraits, paintings, posters and murals.

Alasdair started painting and writing from an early age, and in his seventies he's still vigorously doing both. In this autopictography he gathers together the work that has mattered most to him over the years, and weaves the story of his life through and around these pictures in his own unmistakable style.

A beautifully and copiously illustrated book, designed by himself, this is life as seen by one of the millennium's most entertaining and wry creative geniuses.

The autobiography in words and pictures of one of Britain's most fascinating and acclaimed writers and artists, Alasdair Gray

About the Author
Born in 1934, Alasdair Gray graduated in design and mural painting from the Glasgow School of Art. Since 1981, when Lanark was published by Canongate, he authored, designed and illustrated seven novels, several books of short stories, a collection of his stage, radio and TV plays and a book of his visual art, A Life in Pictures. In November 2019, he received a Lifetime Achievement award by the Saltire Society. He died in December 2019, aged eighty-five.

Reviews
Gray is a true original, a twentieth century William Blake. * * Observer * *
A necessary genius. -- Ali Smith
A master at rummaging in the dustbins of the mind. * * Daily Telegraph * *
A great writer, perhaps the greatest writer living in Britain today. -- Will Self
A Life in Pictures is a truly remarkable visual and literary biography...[by]...Glasgow's resident genius. * * The Glasgow Herald * *
There is the sense . . . of a warm and eccentric intelligence at work . . . The wry humour, at one of the book's sadder moments, exemplifies the winning tone of this absorbing 'autopictography', whose high production values and coffee-table heft should see it purchased for many a bibliophile come Christmas. * * Spectator * *
A Life in Pictures is a beautifully produced hardback that does what it says on the cover . . . A detailed and wonderfully realised 'autopictography', it reveals the idiosyncratic genius of a man who has come to embody all that's good about artistic cross-pollination and creative thinking. * * Big Issue * *
As wonderful and unorthodox an autobiography from this subversive and rambunctious magnus of Scottish fiction as you would expect. * * Metro * *
A thick, gorgeous account of is life from early childhood to the present. * * The Skinny * *
Marvellous . . . a pleasure to hold and well as to read. * * Times Literary Supplement * *
Alastair Gray's life has the quality of a fairy tale. In simple terms: social toad is transformed into artistic prince, and kisses the hand of gorgeous renown. * * Times Literary Supplement * *
Alasdair Gray has broken the mould again . . . A Life in Pictures, travels right to the heart of his dark, turbulent and chaotic imagination, and lights up a path through his life; it also makes the reader imagine her own life in pictures. * * Observer * *
Just because my colleagues have already had their say on the subject, I am not going to let that stop me recommending it as a fine GBP35 worth, packed with terrific images and accompanied by his inimitable characteristic narration. -- Keith Bruce * * Herald * *
[Gray] muses on his life story with wry humour, creating a rich and colourful compendium that is utterly original. * * Good Book Guide * *
Well worth the wait, A LIfe in Pictures offers a rich and much-needed guide to the work of arguably Scotland's greatest living artist. * * Literary Review * *
A cultural gem to behold, this long overdue publication will delight both established fans and those who have just discovered the artist. * * Business Destinations * *
Surely there was no more handsome book published this year than Alasdair Gray: A Life in Pictures. The illustrations are as lavish, and the text as eccentric , as even the most optimistic Gray admirer could have wished. * * Guardian * *



Book Information
ISBN 9781841956404
Author Alasdair Gray
Format Hardback
Page Count 312
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 1630g
Dimensions(mm) 270mm * 250mm * 25mm