Product Description

'Brilliantly written, inventive, funny, appalling, frightening and every bit as good as Trainspotting' Mail on Sunday

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #946064 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Porno is a sequel to Trainspotting, and builds on the success of that caustic and very funny novel by taking some of the characters through some radical new catastrophes. Sick Boy returns to Edinburgh with his ventures as a pimp and hustler in London having gone pear-shaped. Desperate for money, he comes up with a new idea, one that (he hopes) will really rake in the cash: the production of a low-rent porn film. Now Welsh introduces us to a new development: the novel’s Sick Girl, Nicola Fuller-Smith, the object of Sick Boy's fevered lust, whom he also believes will be his passport to all kinds of substance-abusing happiness – needless to say, he’s in for a rude awakening.

Other favourite characters from Trainspotting make a welcome reappearance: Renton, Begbie (even more psychotically dangerous than in the earlier book) and the unfortunate Spud, still unable to kick the drugs. Welsh fans need not hesitate: this is every bit as exuberant, hilarious, disgusting and irresistible as its predecessor.--Barry Forshaw

From the Publisher
Hardback edition of the sequel to Trainspotting

From the Author
PORNO

With which character from TRAINSPOTTING/PORNO do you most identify?

-At the moment, Spud.

Are the characters based on people you know, and would you admit to it?

-I can’t be sure, but if I was I wouldn’t admit it.

Who do you think is most likely to make it to 80 – Renton, Sick Boy, Spud or Begbie?

-Probably Renton. Begbie if he gets a life sentence in a maximum security prison.

Did you do much research into the porn industry when you were writing the book?

-Just the usual Saturday night stuff. I’ve one or two friends who work in ‘the industry’ who were very helpful.

In the film of TRAINSPOTTING, you had a cameo role as a dealer. Now that the film rights to PORNO have been sold, will you be starring, do you think?

-I’d have to go into training, get rid of the love handles. Even my acting isn’t bad enough for porn.

Did you always plan to write a sequel to TRAINSPOTTING? Can you see yourself making it a trilogy?

-Yes. I had a sequel, which I didn’t use and it resurfaces as different stories. I shelved the idea as they didn’t add anything to the original. Better to wait nine years on. Now I can never envisage a third part, but who knows how I’ll feel later.

Do you feel proud of the increased profile of Scottish literature over the past decade, and of your part in increasing it?

-Yes. It has had a higher profile and I think I’ve played some part in that. Others would say it’s not been for the best, but there you go.

I know you divide your time between Amsterdam and London these days – do you still feel a strong link with Edinburgh? Do you think the city has changed much since you wrote TRAINSPOTTING?

-I divide my time between London and Edinburgh, and seldom make it to Amsterdam these days. Edinburgh city centre has changed since Trainspotting, but in much the same way all big UK/western cities have; more offices, call centres, wine bars, theme pubs, tourist attractions. Life in the schemes goes on pretty much the same as always.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

What are you reading at the moment?

-Janice Galloway’s Clara.

What is your favourite book of all time?

-The Making of Hibernian Vols 1-3 by Alan Lugton

Which book do you wish you had written?

-The Koran

What do you think is the most over-rated book of all time?

-The Bible

Which living author do you most admire?

-Hubert Selby Jr. I spoke to him once on the phone from LA and he still seems well up for it.

Which of your books are you most proud of?

-Marabou Stork Nightmares.

GENERAL
How would you like to be remembered?

-As someone who had a good heart.

Would you prefer to top the best-seller lists or win a Nobel Prize for literature?

-Both. I’d prefer both. Given the choice the best-sellers list anytime.

Which question would you like to be asked in an interview?

-Why are your books so successful in their Italian and Japanese translations?

Which five people, living or dead, real or fictional, would you most like to invite round for dinner?

-Ghandi, Twiggy, two hunger strikers and Mullah Omar during Ramadam, as I’d be okay for a decent nosh.

And lastly – why should everyone buy Porno?

-It’s simply a magnificent book. It has strong, memorable characters, is a brilliantly plotted tale of revenge, betrayal and paranoia etc, etc.