Pull up the collar of your greatcoat and warm your hands round a freshly-lit cigarette, even if you don't smoke. The realities of tenement life in urban Scotland are here to freeze the cockles of your heart. Aching, gruelling, power-packed short stories. Brilliant but grim. ( )

I think Kelman is at his best as a short story writer. And these stories have got to be modern classics. You can't rush through the book because ofter most of these stories you need to lie down. The most haunting for me are: 'Roofsliding', 'Charlie', 'Acid', 'the habit of rats'. Heir to Kafka, Becket. ( )