Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4354 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'A grace and assurance that turn everyday episodes into the stuff of romance.' -- Times Literary Supplement 20050617 'poignant and funny... a vivid and humorous picture of post-war Glasgow.' -- Evening Times 20050205 'Funny and poignant ... will stir many memories.' -- Sunday Post 20050515 'It's a beauty ... the best book I've read in years.' -- Dorset Echo 20050423 'Exquisite ... a beautiful paean' -- Sunday Times 'A well-written slice of social history delivered directly by an eyewitness' -- Independent on Sunday Consider for instance "The Great Midden-raking Expedition", the sort of thing millions of Winnie-the-Pooh fans would be familiar with if Christopher Robin had been a Glaswegian ... Night Song of the Last Tram is a simply written book and all the better for it ... It recreates stunningly clear memories of a Glasgow childhood ... At the age of 66, Robert Douglas has written his first book - I cannot believe it will be his last. -- Daily Mail, Scotland 20050318 Robert Douglas looks back to his Glasgow childhood and his experiences, the misery (and the laughter) pouring out on every page. The portrait of his mother is beautifully done ... and her loss (through breast cancer) when he was still very young is heartbreaking: it brings tears to my eyes now just writing about it. Douglas has real skill in conveying experience and his use of the Glasgow vernacular lends an extra poetry to the writing. A quite exceptional autobiography. -- Publishing News, Book of the Month, Novembe 20050318 'His prose is direct, pacy, uncluttered ... engaging, deftly written and honestly remembered' -- Herald 20050312 'Told with a direct, unsentimental honesty ... a vividness that makes them real. This is a remarkable, deeply moving autobiography.' -- Cumberland Times 20050312 'It is as a record of the old Glasgow spirit that this book is especially worthwhile.' -- Sunday Herald 20050410 'A heartwarming, heartbreaking tale of a young boy's struggle to become a man.' -- Our Time, Cambridge 20050405 'It has been a while since a book has reduced me to both tears of laughter and sympathy, but Robert Douglas managed it with Night Song of the Last Tram.' -- Journal, Newcastle 20050322 'Wonderful ... vivid.' -- Stockport Express 20050316 'The descriptions of streets and smells and childhood feelings ... come from some little fire that's never gone out in Douglas' mind ... His prose is direct, pacy, uncluttered ... engaging, deftly written and honestly remembered.' -- Herald 20050316

Review
'Exquisite ... a beautiful paean' (Sunday Times 20050405)

'His prose is direct, pacy, uncluttered ... engaging, deftly written and honestly remembered' (Herald )

'NIGHT SONG OF THE LAST TRAM is a simply written book and all the better for it ... It recreates stunningly clear memories of a Glasgow childhood ... At the age of 66, Robert Douglas has written his first book - I cannot believe it will be his last.' (Daily Mail, Scotland )

'A well-written slice of social history delivered directly by an eyewitness' (Independent on Sunday )

'It has been a while since a book has reduced me to both tears of laughter and sympathy, but Robert Douglas managed it with NIGHT SONG OF THE LAST TRAM.' (Journal, Newcastle )

'It is as a record of the old Glasgow spirit that this book is especially worthwhile.' (Sunday Herald )

'The portrait of his mother is beautifully done ... and her loss (through breast cancer) when he was still very young is heartbreaking: it brings tears to my eyes now just writing about it. Douglas has real skill in conveying experience and his use of the Glasgow vernacular lends an extra poetry to the writing. A quite exceptional autobiography.' (Publishing News, Book of the Month, November )

'Told with a direct, unsentimental honesty ... a vividness that makes them real. This is a remarkable, deeply moving autobiography.' (Cumberland Times )

'Wonderful ... vivid.' (Stockport Express )

'The descriptions of streets and smells and childhood feelings ... come from some little fire that's never gone out in Douglas' mind ... His prose is direct, pacy, uncluttered ... engaging, deftly written and honestly remembered.' (Herald )

Consider for instance "The Great Midden-raking Expedition", the sort of thing millions of Winnie-the-Pooh fans would be familiar with if Christopher Robin had been a Glaswegian ... NIGHT SONG OF THE LAST TRAM is a simply written book and all the better for it ... It recreates stunningly clear memories of a Glasgow childhood ... At the age of 66, Robert Douglas has written his first book - I cannot believe it will be his last. (Daily Mail, Scotland )

'A heartwarming, heartbreaking tale of a young boy's struggle to become a man.' (Our Time, Cambridge )

'Robert Douglas looks back to his Glasgow childhood and his experiences, the misery (and the laughter) pouring out on every page. The portrait of his mother is beautifully done ... and her loss (through breast cancer) when he was still very young is heartbreaking: it brings tears to my eyes now just writing about it. Douglas has real skill in conveying experience and his use of the Glasgow vernacular lends an extra poetry to the writing. A quite exceptional autobiography.' (Publishing News, Book of the Month, Novembe )

'One of the most moving autobiographies ever penned by a Scottish writer'

'Heart warming characters caught up in a clever mystery’

Peter Tate in the Bournemouth Daily Echo
He thanks the teachers of a Northumberland writers' group - We should, too.

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Glasgow Autobiography
I have just finished 'Night Song of the Last Tram' by Robert Douglas and if you like really well written autobiography then this is one for you. It tells the story of a little boy growing up in Glasgow between 1946 and 1953 and is a funny and nostalgic tale (Although you might need to have a box of tissues to hand - without giving too much away...). The characters are all vividly portrayed and the setting gives you a real sense of what life was like in those days, and how much our lives have changed now. Highly recommended.

Pure nostalgia
If you, like myself, were born in Glasgow in the forties, and lived up a close through the fifties, then you'll appreciate this 'magic' book.
Robert Douglas has captured the senses and atmosphere of life in Glasgow as a wee boy growing up to being a working teenager.
It's life that many Glaswegians will relate to.
Excellently written with honest Glasgow patter yet mixed with a tinge of sadness for his personal relationship with his father.
A truly enjoyable read.
David Hunter

A Glasgow Childhood.
This is another one of those books I just couldn't put down! It was so beautifully wrote, and takes you completely into the book as if you were there.

I love the way Robert uses the Glasgow accent in this book it makes it so realistic.The discriptions of the people, places and feelings are superb.

I have read a lot of true life/Biographies, but i actually cried when I read the latter chapters of the book.

It is sad story and yet wonderfully warm at the same time.

I can't wait to read Roberts next book.