Amazon.com: Bucket of Tongues: Duncan McLean: Books

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7 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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3.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the USA at last!, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bucket of Tongues (Paperback)

Read this book back in '94 during a trip to Scotland... for years I hoped an American publisher would be smart enough to pick it up. Finally. McLean is fresh and original and makes mudane middleclass Scottish worker/slacker lives vibrate with an underlying potential for doom... or at least a good fistfight. These short stories all held me, and sometimes shook me violently about the arms and head. Fantastic. May McLean have a long prolific life. I'll read them all. Check out the novel "Bunkerman" as well.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Introduction to McLean's Range, April 4, 2001

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A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bucket of Tongues (Paperback)

From the author of the totally creepy Bunker Man and the deftly delightful Blackden comes this collection of 23 short stories ranging in length from a half-page to 42 pages. McLean's voice and fine writing is as evident in these short works as in his two novels. If one placed each of his novels at the end of a spectrum of creepiness and wholesomeness, the stories in this collection would fill the gap between them. Indeed, the longest story, "Hours of Darkness" shares many of the creepy and ultimately nasty characteristics of Bunker Man, while others such as "Tongue" or "The Druids S***e It and Fail To Show" hearken to Blackden. As a whole, the collection is a great example of the new Scottish writing, and a perfect introduction to McLean.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars delightful, March 2, 2000

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"grizzellda" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bucket of Tongues (Paperback)

The painful truths told by McLean are bearable because of the humor that they are told with. If you liked the movie trainspotting, you will love this book, as I did.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid shorts
Good, solid, slice-of-life type of stories. Reads quickly.

Published on July 1, 2001 by Jessica L. Clegg

3.0 out of 5 stars well written if underwhelming
These stories describe the antics of contemporary Scottish pond life. But they do so in a flat, affectless voice. Read more

Published on September 13, 2000 by S. Clark

4.0 out of 5 stars Snippets of misery...
Although I enjoyed reading this book, I wouldn't say there was anything truly ground-breaking or special about it. Read more

Published on May 5, 2000 by Marc J Needham

1.0 out of 5 stars It dragged.
Each story is about the bleakness and/or pointlessness of a certain kind of Scottish life; so much so that after a while, all the stories become the same and you find yourself... Read more

Published on February 11, 2000 by Patrick Carroll

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
They came home from the pub to find their flat had been fucking done over. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
harbour wall, fucking job

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Gary Innes, Jesus Christ, Gary Inns, New Zealand, Bangor Street, Och Robbie

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Concordance | Text Stats

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Bucket of Tongues [Paperback]

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