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|title=If You Liked School, You'll Love Work

|author=Irvine Welsh

|date=July 2007

|isbn=978-0224075886

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There is a perception that, whether you love or hate Irvine Welsh, you know just what to expect with his books. This volume is no exception. The first F-word is in the first sentence, with a second joining it on the first page. Hard drug use is on the fifth page, and sex soon joins it. But I cannot just list what we can predict from this book and hope to get away with it, so here's a bit more you might not predict.

I haven't read a lot of Welsh in the past, for sure, but I was left with the distinct feeling that I got what I expected with this book after all, despite the possibility of the collection expanding Welsh's range. There's the typical tropes of violence, alcohol, base sexuality, and not a lot else. The collection has no over-riding theme, nor anything that branches from a middling-to-good quality level, and seems to define a time when Welsh is willing but unable to push his milieus beyond what we might expect.

I would still like to thank the publishers for sending the bookbag a copy to review.