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Shuggie Bain: Winner of the Booker Prize

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Poignant tale of love amidst Glasgow's harsh reality.

If you're drawn to stories that capture the resilience of the human spirit against a backdrop of socio-economic struggles, "Shuggie Bain" is for you. Douglas Stuart's unflinchingly honest portrayal of a young boy's loyalty and the brutal cost of addiction won't just move you—it will etch itself into your memory. Hence, the numerous awards it has garnered make perfect sense; it's storytelling at its most raw and impactful.

  • Booker Prize (2020)
  • British Book Award for Book of the Year (2021)
  • Orwell Prize Nominee for Political Fiction for Longlist (2021)
  • Magnesia Litera for Translation (Litera za překladovou knihu) (2023)
  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for First Fiction (2020)
  • Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction (2021)
  • Lambda Literary Award Nominee for Gay Fiction (2020)
  • Dayton Literary Peace Prize Nominee for Fiction (2021)
  • The Polari Prize Nominee for First Book (2021)
  • National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (2020)
  • Kirkus Prize Nominee for Fiction (2020)
  • Saltire Society Literary Award Nominee for Scottish Fiction Book of the Year (2021)
  • Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction and for Debut Novel (2020)
  • PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel Nominee for Shortlist (2021)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
New

Shuggie Bain: Winner of the Booker Prize

Regular price $25.90
Unit price
per
ISBN: 9781529019285
Authors: Douglas Stuart
Publisher: Picador
Date of Publication: 2020-02-20
Format: Paperback
Related Topics: LGBTQ+, Race, War
Goodreads rating: 4.31
(rated by 147618 readers)

Description

Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city's notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings. Shuggie's mother Agnes walks a wayward path: she is Shuggie's guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking good--her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white false teeth offer a glamourous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor. But under the surface, Agnes finds increasing solace in drink, and she drains away the lion's share of each week's benefits--all the family has to live on--on cans of extra-strong lager hidden in handbags and poured into tea mugs. Agnes's older children find their own ways to get a safe distance from their mother, abandoning Shuggie to care for her as she swings between alcoholic binges and sobriety. Shuggie is meanwhile struggling to somehow become the normal boy he desperately longs to be, but everyone has realized that he is
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Poignant tale of love amidst Glasgow's harsh reality.

If you're drawn to stories that capture the resilience of the human spirit against a backdrop of socio-economic struggles, "Shuggie Bain" is for you. Douglas Stuart's unflinchingly honest portrayal of a young boy's loyalty and the brutal cost of addiction won't just move you—it will etch itself into your memory. Hence, the numerous awards it has garnered make perfect sense; it's storytelling at its most raw and impactful.

  • Booker Prize (2020)
  • British Book Award for Book of the Year (2021)
  • Orwell Prize Nominee for Political Fiction for Longlist (2021)
  • Magnesia Litera for Translation (Litera za překladovou knihu) (2023)
  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for First Fiction (2020)
  • Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction (2021)
  • Lambda Literary Award Nominee for Gay Fiction (2020)
  • Dayton Literary Peace Prize Nominee for Fiction (2021)
  • The Polari Prize Nominee for First Book (2021)
  • National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (2020)
  • Kirkus Prize Nominee for Fiction (2020)
  • Saltire Society Literary Award Nominee for Scottish Fiction Book of the Year (2021)
  • Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction and for Debut Novel (2020)
  • PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel Nominee for Shortlist (2021)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.