The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Alasdair Gray by Stephen Bernstein
Mark Axelrod

Stephen Bernstein. Alasdair Gray. Associated Univ. Presses, 1999. 187 pp. $39.95.

Not unthankfully, Stephen Bernstein’s work on Alasdair Gray is a book that should be on every American’s bookshelf. In a concise, laconic manner—well researched, well documented, well written—this work introduces Alasdair Gray to the Americas (at least the Northern one) and to the multiple talents of Gray. Tracing Gray’s work—from what’s become a postmodern classic, Lanark (1981, which Burgess proclaimed in 1984 was “a shattering work of fiction in the modern idiom”), to Mavis Belfrage (1996), and beyond (e.g., The Anthology of Prefaces)—Bernstein not only introduces the reader to Gray’s fictional confabulations and to his remarkable artistic talents (he designs his own covers), but positions Gray as being the “grand olde master” of the contemporary Scottish novel and the “Scottish School” (including writers like James Kelman, Tom Leonard, and Jeff Torrington, among others) as well as among the leading postmodern writers of the twentieth century.

Not only does Bernstein illuminate for the reader Gray and Gray’s works, but he discusses the modes by which Gray writes and certain methods to his particular madness: “when Gray has few new ideas for fiction and for whatever reason needs to publish a book he looks through his old scripts and works something up.” Bernstein doesn’t vilify Gray for the age-old practice, but the mere mention of it is a bit perplexing in light of the quality of Gray’s material.

All that said, Bernstein’s book is an excellent Gray primer and not only introduces Gray to a larger reading audience but also warns that audience to proceed at its own risk. [Mark Axelrod]


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The Review of Contemporary Fiction Alasdair Gray by Stephen Bernstein Mark Axelrod Stephen Bernstein. Alasdair Gray. Associated Univ. Presses, 1999. 187 pp. $39.95. Not unthankfully, Stephen Bernstein’s work on Alasdair Gray is a book that should be on every American’s bookshelf. In a concise, laconic manner—well researched, well documented, well written—this work introduces Alasdair Gray to the Americas (at least the Northern one) and to the multiple talents of Gray. Tracing Gray’s work—from what’s become a postmodern classic, Lanark (1981, which Burgess proclaimed in 1984 was “a shattering work of fiction in the modern idiom”), to Mavis Belfrage (1996), and beyond (e.g., The Anthology of Prefaces)—Bernstein not only introduces the reader to Gray’s fictional confabulations and to his remarkable artistic talents (he designs his own covers), but positions Gray as being the “grand olde master” of the contemporary Scottish novel and the “Scottish School” (including writers like James Kelman, Tom Leonard, and Jeff Torrington, among others) as well as among the leading postmodern writers of the twentieth century. Not only does Bernstein illuminate for the reader Gray and Gray’s works, but he discusses the modes by which Gray writes and certain methods to his particular madness: “when Gray has few new ideas for fiction and for whatever reason needs to publish a book he looks through his old scripts and works something up.” Bernstein doesn’t vilify Gray for the age-old practice, but the mere mention of it is a bit perplexing in light of the quality of Gray’s material. All that said, Bernstein’s book is an excellent Gray primer and not only introduces Gray to a larger reading audience but also warns that audience to proceed at its own risk. [Mark Axelrod]

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