Book description
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.
Irvine Welsh is the author of eight previous novels and four books of
shorter fiction. He currently lives in Chicago.
