Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of How Late It Was, How Late

How Late It Was, How Late
How Late It Was How Late
Author: James Kelman
ISBN-13: 9780385315609
ISBN-10: 0385315600
Publication Date: 2/1/1996
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 12

3.5 stars, based on 12 ratings
Publisher: Delta
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

2 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

michaelmonson avatar reviewed How Late It Was, How Late on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Wow! That is all I can say about this book. It took my breath away. Every other word is f**k, so you have to be able to get beyond that first, and I admit it took me a while. After that, the character never stoped making me wonder and laugh. Read this with an open mind, and the never failing optimism will knock you out.
reviewed How Late It Was, How Late on + 296 more book reviews
The story of a fist-fighting, alcoholic ex-con named Sammy who is beaten senseless by Glasgow police and plunged into a netherworld of darkness. Blinded from his beating, Sammy wanders off into a Kafkaesque nightmare in which his girlfriend, with all good reason, abandons him, the police accuse him of unspecified crimes, and a doctor tries to convince him he is not really blind. Carrying a sawed-off broomstick for a blind man's cane, Sammy brings frantic, foul-mouthed illumination to his dark world, and stands as one of the most memorable and perversely honorable antiheroes to appear in modern fiction. Winner of the Booker Prize.