Marabou Stork Nightmares

Roy Strang is engaged in a strange quest in a surrealist South Africa. His mission is to eradicate an evil predator-scavenger bird, the marabou stork, before it drives away the peace-loving flamingo from the picturesque Lake Torto. But behind this world lies another: the world of Roy’s bizarre family, the Scottish housing scheme in which he grew up, his mundane job, a disastrous emigration to Africa, and his youthful life of brutality with a gang of soccer casuals. As one world crashes into the other, this potentially charming story of ornithological goodwill mutates into a filthy tale of violence, abuse and redemption.

Reviews of Marabou Stork Nightmares

"A superbly talented writer…anarchic and entirely invigorating" Scotsman "A wonderful success: a funny, cleverly composed, genuinely exciting and assured leap of a novel" New Statesman "Extremely funny… As clever as Alasdair Gray, as elegant as Jeff Torrington, as passionate as James Kelman, Welsh has got it all" — Tibor Fischer "Mind-bendingly good" GQ "Our most vital of contemporary authors" i-D