Few novelists embody Dispatch’s mission better than Irvine Welsh — an author who captures the raw glory of human life in all its crinkled, complicated forms.
So I was thrilled when he agreed to sit down and talk about his new novel, Men in Love, set just after Trainspotting concludes.
The book is a vivid, heady dive into what it means for men in their mid-twenties to fall deeply in love for the first time.
We caught up last week to talk about all of it: romance, friendship, porn and politics. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation. — Jacob
At Dispatch, we care a lot about how place and community shape people’s lives. One place that stands out — in both Trainspotting and your own story — is the Leith Dockers Club, where you and Renton used to hang out as kids. Have you been back lately?
Yeah, I’m still there quite a bit. But it’s changed. The old guard — the dockers — don’t really show up anymore; most of them are retired or gone.
My mate Rab Bell has taken it over now. It still does the usual weddings, funerals and that kind of thing, but there’s also a Northern Soul night and raves in the fore club.
In some ways, it captures the spirit of the old dockers’ club, but for a different time in a different era.
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