Shortlisted for Saltire Fiction Book of the Year 2016

'A celebration of what it is to be human' Spectator

Murdo, a teenager obsessed with music, dreams of a life beyond home. His recently widowed dad, Tom, stumbles towards the future, terrified of losing what remains of his family. Both are in search of something as they set out from rural Scotland on a journey to the American South.

About the Author
James Kelman was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989 with A Disaffection, which also won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. He then went on to win the Booker Prize five years later with How Late It Was, How Late, before being shortlisted twice for the Man Booker International Prize, in 2009 and 2011. Dirt Road was shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year in 2016. His most recent book of stories, That Was a Shiver, is published by Canongate in 2017.

Reviews
Dirt Road is brilliant . . . a deeply moving and exciting novel -- RODDY DOYLE
A brilliantly understated tale about coming of age, grief and the folk music of the American deep south . . . poignant and beautiful ***** * * Daily Telegraph * *
A delight . . . The best thing [Kelman] has written -- ALLAN MASSIE * * Scotsman * *
In Dirt Road James Kelman brings alive a human consciousness like no other writer can -- ALAN WARNER
Another masterpiece from one of our best writers -- KIRSTY GUNN * * Guardian * *
Kelman in the American South, with a zydeco lilt, proves irresistible - a thrilling return from one of our most essential novelists -- KEVIN BARRY
Strange and beautiful . . . Kelman gives us visceral vernacular, Joycean stream of consciousness, wry humor, old resentments and painful memories, all in counterpoint to the music on and off stage . . . A celebration of what it is to be human * * Spectator * *
Beautiful. Dirt Road is about coming of age, grief and the folk music of the American deep south * * Daily Telegraph * *
Draws you like a magnet * * Herald Scotland * *
In writing as pure as this, language becomes the very bones and meat of the characters. I am not transported by these sentences into Murdo's world; I am Murdo -- ROSS RAISIN


Awards
Short-listed for Saltire Society Scottish Fiction Book of the Year 2016 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781782118251
Author Mr James Kelman
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 258g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 23mm