Reheated Cabbage

Presents a collection of stories that reflect the author's vaulting imagination, vernacular ear, dark, scabrous humor and the ability to create some of the most memorable characters in contemporary fiction.

Reheated Cabbage is a new collection of old Irvine Welsh stories, many no longer in print, illustrating all his signature skills — brutal humour, an ear finely tuned to the vernacular and, of course, unforgettable characters.

In these pages you can enjoy Christmas dinner with Begbie, and see how warmly Franco greets his sister’s boyfriend and the news of their engagement. You will discover, in “The Rosewell Incident,” how aliens addicted to Embassy Regal cigarettes have Midlothian under surveillance, and plan to install the local casuals as the new governors of Planet Earth.

You will not be surprised to read that a televised Hibs v. Hearts game might matter more to one character than the life of his wife, or that two guys fighting over a beautiful girl might agree — on reflection, and after a few pills and many pints of lager — that their friendship is actually more important. And you will be delighted to welcome back “Juice” Terry Lawson, and to watch what happens when he meets his old nemesis, retired schoolmaster Albert Black, under the strobe lights of a Miami Beach nightclub.

Most of the stories in Reheated Cabbage originally appeared in fugitive form in magazines and long-out-of-print anthologies. Finally collected together, they show all Irvine Welsh’s trademark skills — vaulting imagination, a brilliant vernacular ear, dark, scabrous humour and the ability to create some of the most memorable characters in contemporary fiction.

In these pages you can enjoy Christmas dinner with Begbie, and see how warmly Franco greets his sister's boyfriend and the news of their engagement. You will discover, in 'The Rosewell Incident', how aliens addicted to Embassy Regal have Midlothian under surveillance, and plan to install the local casuals as the new governors of Planet Earth. You will not be surprised to read that a televised Hibs v. Hearts game might matter more to one character than the life of his wife, or that two guys fighting over a beautiful girl might agree - on reflection, and after a few pills and many pints of lager - that their friendship is actually more important. And you will be delighted to welcome back 'Juice' Terry Lawson, and to watch what happens when he meets his old nemesis, retired schoolmaster Albert Black, under the strobe-lights of a Miami Beach nightclub. Most of the stories in "Reheated Cabbage" originally appeared in fugitive form in magazines and long-out-of-print anthologies in the 1990s. Finally collected together, they show all Irvine Welsh's trademark skills - vaulting imagination, a brilliant vernacular ear, dark, scabrous humor and the ability to create some of the most memorable characters in contemporary fiction.

Irvine Welsh is the author of nine previous works of fiction, most recently Crime. He currently lives in Dublin.