Scottish-American author Douglas Stuart published his debut novel, Shuggie Bain, in February 2020.
It’s now on the shortlists for both the Booker Prize – the UK’s most prestigious literary award – which will announce its winner on November 19, and the National book Award – one of the USA’s most prestigious literary awards – which will announce its winner on November 18.
Stuart’s publisher rushed out a paperback edition for the occasion (available now).
But should you read it?
Listen here to my review for CBC Day 6, in which I talk about the novel’s political context (1980s Glasgow), the beauty in the darkness of a relationship between young Shuggie Bain and his alcoholic mother, Agnes, and a novel that, with its Glaswegian dialect throughout, entices you to read with your ears as well as your eyes.